Shaili Singh’s mark in long jump, wrongly measured by Asian Games officials, moves CAS: AFI

Shaili Singh (Image credit: X) The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will approach the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the measurement of Shaila Singh’s fourth attempt in the women’s long jump at the Asian Games.The AFI claims the officials measured the jump from a shorter mark, costing Shaili the medal.

Shaili finishes fourth

Shaili finished fourth with a best jump of 6.42m on Sunday. India’s Ancy Sojan took silver with 6.53m, while China’s Huang Yingying took gold with 6.55m on her final attempt.The controversy centers on Shaili’s fourth attempt, which was officially measured at 6.41m.According to Shaili’s mentor and legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George, the measurement was taken from the wrong mark.“We saw that the jump clearly exceeded the gold mark. Initially, the official near the landing box pointed to Shaili’s foot mark for measurement.“But later another official standing far back came and pointed to the mark which was far shorter than the deck,” Anju told PTI.“The measurement should have been done” differentlyAnju said the measurement was eventually taken from a mark pointed out by an official standing further from the landing pit.“They took the measurement on the mark shown by the official standing far behind them. The measurement should have been taken on the mark shown by the official closest to the landing pit,” said Anju, who won bronze in the long jump at the 2003 World Championships.Shaili also lodged a protest after the attempt and officials showed videos of the jump to the Indian team.

The Indian team is not happy with the video review

Anju said officials first showed them the forward video, which the team said could not tell where Shaili landed.“We were called after the event and the officials showed us the front view video, which means nothing. How would you know where Shaili landed from the front view? We asked for the side view video, which they said they didn’t have.”“We later appealed to the jury. The jury later sent in their decision saying they also looked at the side view videos and the earlier decision stands.”

AFI will take over CAS matter

Anju, who is also the senior vice-president of the AFI, said the federation believes Shaili was denied a medal because of the measurement.“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, also senior vice-president of AFI.Another top AFI official also confirmed to PTI that the body is moving the Lausanne-based CAS against the official decision.