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Shanti Pereira, Quah Ting Wen complete Singapore's 23-strong Olympic contingent

Singapore's Veronica Shanti Pereira celebrates winning gold at the 2015 SEA Games.
Singapore's Veronica Shanti Pereira celebrates winning gold at the 2015 SEA Games. (PHOTO: Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee/Action Images via Reuters)

SINGAPORE — Sprinter Veronica Shanti Pereira and swimmer Quah Ting Wen are the final athletes added to Team Singapore's 23-strong contingent for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, both earning their spots on Friday (2 July) via universality places set aside by their respective sports governing bodies.

Pereira, 24, will be competing in the women's 200m sprint after World Athletics (WA) approved her universality place on Friday. This will be her debut appearance at the Olympic Games.

WA's Olympic qualification system states that National Olympic Committees with no male or female qualified athlete or relay team will be allowed to enter their best ranked male athlete or their best ranked female athlete in one event, with the exception of the 10,000m, 3,000m steeplechase and combined events such as the decathlon.

Singapore Athletics said in a media statement that Pereira was selected as the nominated universality entry in accordance with its selection criteria.

Pereira holds the national records for the women's 100m and 200m, and memorably set the 200m national record of 23.60 seconds while winning gold at the 2015 SEA Games, the first time in 42 years that Singapore had won a sprint gold at the biennial event.

Singapore swimmer Quah Ting Wen smiles after winning gold in the women's 50m butterfly. (PHOTO SNOC/Andy Chua)
Singapore swimmer Quah Ting Wen smiles after winning gold in the women's 50m butterfly at the 2019 SEA Games. (PHOTO SNOC/Andy Chua)

Meanwhile, Quah earned her third trip to the Olympics also via the universality place set aside by FINA, swimming's world governing body. The 28-year-old had previously competed at the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

She will compete in the women's 50m and 100m freestyle events.

The Singapore Swimming Association announced on Friday that Quah had qualified by virtue of being the highest ranked athlete based upon the FINA points table achieved by June.

She joins her younger brother, Zheng Wen, Olympic champion Joseph Schooling and open-water specialist Chantal Liew as the Republic's swimmers who will feature at the Tokyo Games, which will be held from 23 July to 8 August.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong congratulated the two athletes on making it to the Olympic contingent in a Facebook post on Friday night.

The 23 Singapore athletes will be competing in 12 sports in Tokyo. They are:

  • Athletics: Veronica Shanti Pereira (women's 200m).

  • Badminton: Loh Kean Yew (men's singles), Yeo Jia Min (women's singles).

  • Diving: Jonathan Chan (men's 10m platform), Freida Lim (women's 10m platform).

  • Equestrian: Caroline Chew (individual dressage).

  • Fencing: Amita Berthier (women's foil), Kiria Tikanah Abdul Rahman (women's epee).

  • Gymnastics: Tan Sze En (women's individual all-around).

  • Marathon swimming: Chantal Liew (women's 10km open water).

  • Rowing: Joan Poh (women's single sculls).

  • Sailing: Ryan Lo (men's laser), Amanda Ng (women's RS:X), Kimberly Lim & Cecilia Low (women's 49er FX).

  • Shooting: Adele Tan (women's 10m air rifle)

  • Swimming: Joseph Schooling (men's 100m fly), Quah Zheng Wen (men's 100m fly, 100m backstroke), Quah Ting Wen (women's 50m and 100m free).

  • Table tennis: Clarence Chew (men's singles), Feng Tianwei (women's singles & team), Yu Mengyu (women's singles & team), Lin Ye (women's team).

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