Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s appeal against Olympic disqualification has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday.
In a major setback for Vinesh Phogat, the Indian wrestler’s appeal against her disqualification from the Paris Olympics 2024 final was dismissed on Wednesday. Vinesh lost her appeal today as the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed the application by the Indian wrestler days after the verdict was pushed back. The decision on the Indian wrestler’s appeal for a shared silver medal was postponed a second time on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Indian Olympic Association confirmed that the ad-hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Phogat’s appeal against her disqualification from the Olympic Games, ending her chance of getting the joint silver medal in women’s 50kg wrestling. Vinesh was disqualified after she weighed 100gm more than the permissible limit during the weigh-in process on the morning (August 7) of her historic gold-medal bout against Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the USA in women’s 50kg wrestling.
She became the first Indian woman wrestler to enter an Olympic final and assure at least a silver medal, but the disqualification came as a crude shock to the 29-year-old, which not only snatched away a shot at gold but stripped her of a podium finish. The UWW rules state that if a wrestler fails the weight-in at any point during the competition, she will be immediately disqualified, and all her previous wins will be deemed null and void.
That is where Vinesh and the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) objection was. Vinesh was well within the permissible weight limit during the first day of the competition during the weigh-in. It was only after she won three gruelling bouts of wrestling that her weight increased, which is common in the sport.
The IOA and Vinesh’s coaches tried their best to convince the authorities on Wednesday, but nothing worked, so they decided to knock on the doors of CAS. Vinesh also announced her retirement from wrestling the next morning. In an emotional tweet addressing her mother, she wrote that “wrestling won, and she lost.”
Notably, Vinesh had initially submitted two pleas. Her primary focus was the gold medal match. When the CAS rejected that, refusing to put a stay on the gold medal bout, which eventually happened between the USA’s Hildebrandt and Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba, at such short notice, Vinesh went ahead with her second plea of getting a joint silver medal.
In her appeal, the Indian demanded that she be given a joint silver with Lopez as she was within the prescribed weight limit during her bouts on Tuesday. Vinesh was represented by high-profile senior advocates Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania. CAS reviewed that plea and accepted it. The hearing took place on Friday (August 9) and the CAS, initially promised a verdict by Saturday night (IST), which was deferred till August 13.
