India will question Shaili Singh’s result in the long jump after he cut his hair short

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will approach the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the measurement of Shaila Singh’s long jump at the 2026 Asian Games. The Indian camp contested the mark used for one of her attempts, Shaili ended up finishing fourth, four centimeters short of a bronze medal.

Shaili cleared a maximum of 6.42m in Sunday’s final, while China’s Mengyi Tan moved up to third in her last attempt with a performance of 6.46m. Her compatriot Ancy Sojan took silver with 6.53m, while China’s Huang Yingying took gold with 6.55m.

Asian Games 2026, September 28: UPDATE

The controversy centers on Shaili’s fourth attempt, which was officially measured at 6.41m. Her mentor and AFI senior vice-president Anju Bobby George told PTI that an official near the landing pit first identified one mark before another official, located further away, pointed to a shorter mark.

“We saw that her jump clearly surpassed the gold mark. Initially, an official near the landing pit pointed to the mark of Shaili’s feet for measurement,” Anju told PTI.

“But later another official who was standing far behind came and pointed to a mark that was much shorter than the deck. They took the measurement on the mark that the official who was standing far behind them pointed to. The measurement should have been made on the mark that the official closest to the landing pit showed,” she added.

Shaili protested the measurement during the competition and the Indian camp was subsequently shown footage of the attempt. Anju said the officials first showed them the front video, while the Indian side wanted to see the side view. A jury later rejected the appeal and upheld the original decision after reviewing the available footage.

The measurement became particularly significant as Shaili remained in medal contention for most of the final. Her 6.42m was enough to place her in third place before Tan cleared 6.46m with her final jump to move four centimeters ahead.

WHY DID MEASUREMENT BECOME A PROBLEM?

The controversy also involved the mark Shaili’s hair made in the sand. Under the rules for measuring the long jump, the distance is measured to the nearest break in the landing area made by the athlete, meaning that a mark made by a body part or something attached to it can determine the official distance.

However, the Indian camp questioned whether the correct mark was identified in Shaili’s case and whether the available video evidence sufficiently demonstrated where the mark was made.

AFI IN DISPUTE NEXT

After the panel upheld the original decision, AFI decided to take the matter to CAS. Anju said the federation believes the questionable measurement affected Shaili’s final placing.

“It is unfair to Shaila. She could have even won the gold if the measurement was done correctly. So we are going to CAS,” said Anju.

An AFI official also confirmed to PTI that the federation plans to challenge the decision at the Lausanne-based CAS. The appeal will now move the dispute from the Asian Games jury process to the sport’s international arbitration body.

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