The 2024 Singapore Sports Awards were presented on June 3, and the winners were bowler Darren Ong and sprinter Shanti Pereira. With her Sportswoman of the Year title, Pereira becomes the first track and field athlete to do so since 2004.
Coach Luis Cunha, whom she was under, was honoured with the title. A few of Pereira’s achievements include winning 100-meter and 200-meter titles at the Cambodia SEA Games and Asian Athletics Championships; making a semi-final appearance at the World Championships in Budapest; and winning 200-meter gold and 100-meter silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games. A national record was also set in the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash.
In 2007, Darren Ong won the Sportsman of the Year award for the first time. As the crown jewel of Ong’s breakout year, he became the first Singaporean to win the men’s singles title in the International Bowling Federation World Championships since 2006 in Kuwait. In addition to winning the Philippine International Open’s singles title, he took bronze in the men’s doubles and all-events world championships.
The event also recognised Maximilian Maeder, a world champion in kitefoiling, as the Sportsboy of the Year, and Zeanne Law, a world champion in wushu, as the Sportsgirl of the Year.
