Claiming that officials at the ongoing Asian Games took a “shorter” measurement of long jumper Shaili Singh’s effort, which denied her a medal, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has decided to move the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision. Shaili finished fourth with a best jump of 6.42m in the women’s long jump event on Sunday, with compatriot Ancy Sojan taking silver with 6.53m. China’s Huang Yingying took gold with her final attempt of 6.55m. The bone of contention is Shaili’s fourth attempt, which was officially measured at 6.41m. According to Shaili’s mentor and legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George, the distance was wrongly measured at the behest of an official who was not close to the landing pit.
“We saw that 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.
“But later, another official who was standing farther behind came and pointed to a mark that was much shorter from the board,” Anju told PTI.
“They took the measurement from the mark pointed out by the official who was standing farther behind. The measurement should have been taken from the mark pointed out by the official nearest to the landing pit,” said Anju, who won a long jump bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships.
Shaili herself lodged a protest, and videos of the jump were shown at the time.
“We were called after the event, and the officials showed us a front-view video, which does not mean anything. How would you know where Shaili landed from a front view? We demanded a side-view video, which they said they did not have.
“Later, we made an appeal to the jury. The jury subsequently sent their decision, saying that they had looked into the side-view videos as well, and the earlier decision stands.
“It’s an injustice to Shaili. She could have even won gold if the correct measurement had been made. So, we are going to CAS,” Anju, who is also the senior vice-president of the AFI, said.
Another top AFI official also confirmed to PTI that the body is moving the Lausanne-based CAS against the officials’ decision.
