Shaili Singh and Eldhose Paul left shattered as World Athletics marks Jump Fest results ‘uncertified’
Indian long jumper Shaili Singh’s silver medal and triple jumper Eldhose Paul’s bronze medal at the JBL Jumps Fest were marked as UNC ‘uncertified’ by the World Athletics. The development has shattered the hopes of all the athletes who aspired to make it to the Paris Olympics 2024.
Interestingly, the World Athletics did not give any explanation for this move. This indicates that the world-ranking points from Slovakia's Jumps Fest would not be added to their Road to Paris Olympics 2024 rankings.
Speaking about the move by the World Athletics, Shaili’s coach, Robert Bobby George stated that the apex body should’ve informed the athletes about the UNC before the start of the meet.
“The jumps were held on a slightly elevated runway, but this is a WA Continental Tour event, so I don’t think that could be the reason for the ‘UNC’... surely they would have looked into it before the meet,” Robert told Sportstar.
It’s getting tough for Shaili Singh to make it to the Paris Olympics 2024
According to her coach, Shaili Singh will be taking part in Atleticageneve in Geneva. However, since the qualification cycle is about to end by June 30, it will be tough for Indian athletes to make it to the Paris Olympics 2024.
“Shaili will be competing in Atleticageneve in Geneva on Saturday, but now it will be tough for her to qualify for the Olympics. Tomorrow’s event will be her seventh competition in a little over a month in about seven countries,” he added.
Athletics Federation of India (AFI) President and World Athletics (WA) Vice-President Adille Sumariwalla has now written to the apex body about the ‘UNC’ issue.
“I’m making some enquiries, have written to WA...I’m not in India,” Sumariwalla was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
Shaili Singh secured the second spot amongst six athletes with a best attempt of 6.43m in the fifth round. Plamena Mitkova from Bulgaria grabbed the gold medal with 6.70m.
In the men’s triple jump, Eldhose Paul settled for the bronze while Praveen Chithravel ended up in the last spot among six participants. Eldhose finished with a 16.45m jump while Praveen's best effort of 15.87m saw him finish sixth.
Notably, all three Indian athletes will be competing in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Panchkula from June 27 to 30 as they aim to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024.