PANJIM: Desiree Pereira of St Xavier’s College, Mapusa is very well known as a shot put champion at National and International level but very few people know she is also an all-rounder.
The teen sensation from Parra has participated in over 15 Nationals for Goa in shot put after discovering her talent in the fifth standard.
Desiree is pursuing her B.Com and has brought laurels to her college in various sporting disciplines such as hockey, athletics, football and other sports.
Moreover, she has excelled academically which makes her an outstanding student and an asset to her institution.
Winning a bronze medal in shot put at the 3rd Lusofonia Games in Goa was her most memorable moment but Desiree continues to work hard to achieve even bigger goals. She was the only other girl to be selected for the Lusofonia Games in the shot put event.
“I was delighted when I won the bronze medal in shot put at the 3rd Lusofonia Games. It made my family and country proud,” said Desiree.
With proper training facilities the athletes could have certainly secured a better podium finish but that was not the case. “We were promised foreign coaches. But they never arrived. I trained hard and gave my best with the help of senior athletes from Punjab in my team,” Desiree explained, who spent four years at Sports Authority of India training facility.
Apart from participating, Desiree also officiated at the 36th National Masters Athletic championship, held at Bambolim, recently.
