The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has decided to approach the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), alleging that officials at the ongoing Asian Games wrongly measured one of long jumper Shaili Singh’s attempts, potentially denying her a medal in the women’s long jump event.
Shaili finished fourth in Sunday’s final with a best effort of 6.42 metres, while compatriot Ancy Sojan claimed silver with 6.53m. China’s Huang Yingying won gold with a final-attempt leap of 6.55m, while her compatriot Tan Mengyi secured bronze with 6.46m.
Dispute over fourth attempt
The controversy centres on Shaili’s fourth attempt, which was officially measured at 6.41m. Her mentor and former world championships bronze medallist Anju Bobby George alleged that the distance had been measured from the wrong mark in the landing pit.
According to Anju, those watching the jump believed Shaili had landed beyond the eventual gold-medal mark. She said the official stationed closest to the landing pit initially identified a mark left by Shaili’s leg as the point from which the jump should be measured.
Anju alleged that another official, who was standing farther away, subsequently intervened and pointed to a different mark that was considerably closer to the take-off board. The measurement was eventually taken from the latter mark.
“We saw her jump was clearly ahead of the gold-winning mark. Initially, the official near the landing pit pointed to Shaili’s leg mark for the measurement,” Anju said.
She maintained that the measurement should have been taken from the mark identified by the official positioned closest to the landing area.
Shaili lodged protest
Shaili lodged a protest over the measurement during the competition, with video footage of the attempt subsequently examined. According to Anju, the Indian contingent was initially shown footage from a front-facing camera.
The Indian side argued that the angle was inadequate to determine precisely where Shaili had made her first contact with the sand and sought footage from a side-view camera. Anju said officials initially told them that such footage was not available.
The matter was subsequently taken before the jury after the Indian camp filed an appeal. The jury later informed them that side-view footage had also been examined and that the original decision would stand.
AFI plans CAS appeal
Anju, who is also senior vice-president of the AFI, said the federation would now challenge the decision before the Lausanne-based CAS. Another senior AFI official also confirmed that the national federation had decided to pursue the matter.
“It’s an injustice to Shaili. She could have even won gold if the correct measurement was made. So, we are going to CAS,” Anju said.
The dispute assumes significance because of the narrow margins separating the leading jumpers. Shaili’s officially recorded best of 6.42m left her just four centimetres behind bronze medallist Tan and 13 centimetres behind Huang’s gold-winning mark.
Late drama in final
Shaili had been in the bronze-medal position heading into the closing stages of the competition. Her best officially recorded effort of 6.42m had kept her in third place before Tan produced a 6.46m leap on her final attempt to move ahead of the Indian.
There was late heartbreak for Ancy as well. The Indian had moved into the lead with her 6.53m effort before Huang produced 6.55m on her final attempt to claim the gold medal by just two centimetres.
The AFI’s proposed approach to CAS will now seek to challenge the handling and measurement of Shaili’s disputed fourth attempt, with the federation maintaining that the mark used by officials did not accurately reflect where she first landed in the pit.