Vinesh Phogat's appeal for shared silver medal dismissed by CAS

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said in its initial order that Vinesh Phogat’s case is dismissed.

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s appeal for a joint-silver medal after getting disqualified from the women’s freestyle 50kg category final at Paris Olympics 2024, was dismissed by the ad-hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Wednesday (August 14). The decision comes days after the body asked for three more days to announce its final verdict.

“The application filed by Vinesh Phogat on 7 August 2024 is dismissed,” the CAS said in its initial order. The decision means Vinesh will not be awarded a joint-silver medal and will also be ranked in the last position in her weight category at Paris Olympics 2024.

She was disqualified from the competition on the day of the final bout in her weight category after being found 100 grams above the limit during the weigh-in. Phogat had then filed a plea before the CAS—first to allow her to compete in the final and then modified it requesting to be awarded a joint-silver medal.

Also Read: Top five most memorable moments in Vinesh Phogat’s career

A day after the disqualification, Vinesh announced her retirement from the sport. In a social media post, she had written that she felt defeated and did not have the strength to continue even as support poured in from all quarters for the 29-year-old Indian grappler.

Vinesh had stormed into the final of the women’s freestyle 50kg category with three stunning wins. She started by shocking reigning Olympic champion and top seed Yui Susaki and then followed it with a victory over Ukraine’s Livach Oksana to reach the semis where she saw off Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba to assure herself a medal and also qualify for the gold medal bout.

However, as fate will have it, on August 7—the morning of the gold medal bout—Vinesh was found to be weighing 100 grams above the weight limit in her category despite a rigorous process in the previous night to reduce her weight. She was subsequently disqualified as per the regulations.

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