Sreeshankar and athlete from Bahmas jumped same distance, yet Malayali athlete lost gold, was it the fault of authorities?

BIRMINGHAM: Malayali athlete M Sreeshankar won the silver medal in the Commonwealth Games long jump with a historic achievement. Sreeshankar is the first Indian male athlete to win a silver medal in long jump in Commonwealth Games . LaQuan Nairn of Bahmas, who won the gold and Sreesankar jumped the same distance. Both of them jumped a distance of 8.08 meters. As both of them covered the same distance, the authorities decided to award the gold to Nairn as he covered best distance in second jump. Nairn's second best distance was 7.98m followed by Sreeshankar's 7.84m.

Sreeshankar's fourth and sixth jumps were declared as foul. But Sreeshankar's fourth jump gave the impression that it was not a foul on television replays. This jump is estimated to have been around 8.30 meters. This distance was not measured because the jump was considered foul. But as no fault could be found in Sreeshankar's jump on television, the Indian fans concluded that the foul was called by the officials.

But the truth is that Sreeshankar lost the gold by the new technology recently introduced in the long jump. Till now, the official who is near the jumping board has decided whether the jump is foul or not. But with the laser board introduced last March, even a millimeter difference in the jumping pit is considered as a foul. This is how Sreeshankar's jump was declared as foul.

Sreeshankar's sixth jump in the long jump competition yesterday was also a foul. Finally, Sreeshankar's jump of 8.08 meters in the fifth attempt gave the Malayali the silver medal. LaQuan Nairn of Bahmas who jumped the same distance won the gold. Naira's second best jump of 7.98 meters gave him the gold. Sreeshankar's second best distance was 7.84m. When laser beam technology was first introduced, many athletes reacted against it. What happened to Sreesankar yesterday was one of the situations they raised earlier.