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The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) extended the deadline for Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat 's medal verdict till August 11. The judicial body was to announce the final verdict on Phogat's appeal vs. United World Wrestling & the International Olympic Committee matter on Saturday, where the Indian wrestler had filed an appeal for a joint silver medal at Paris Olympics 2024.
During the August 10 hearing, the CAS announced to extend the time limit for the panel to give the decision by 24 hours. In an official statement, the CAS announced, “By application of Article 18 of the CAS Arbitration Rules for the Olympic Games, the President of the CAS Ad Hoc Division extends the time limit for the Panel to give a decision until 10 August 2024 at 18h00 (Paris time)." As per the latest announcement, the final decision will be declared at 9:30 pm IST.
Notably, the Indian wrestler filed a plea demanding a joint silver medal in the women’s 50kg freestyle. The CAS in Switzerland accepted Phogat’s request over her disqualification from the 2024 Paris Olympics, and announced of taking a decision before the ending of the Summer Games 2024. Notably, the matter as referred to the Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett AC SC, Sole Arbitrator. Harish Salve, the Former Solicitor General of India represented the Indian Olympic Association at the hearing.
The appeal by Vinesh’s team were made on a few points including that Vinesh won three bouts on August 6 and had her weight within the limit and hence, her entry into the final was legal. After those rounds, the wrestler required hydration and a sufficient amount of food to recover, so her gained weight was not in nature to give her an unfair advantage but was a part of essential recovery process.
It is to be noted that the 29-year-old wrestler was disqualified on the morning of her gold-medal match after she was reportedly 100 grams over the weight limit. She had weighed in at 49.9 kg before her first round but weighed 52.7 kg by the end of her semifinal. After a sleepless night, Vinesh weighed in at 50.1kg on the morning of the summit clash and was declared disqualified as per the rules listed in UWW rules.
