The Court of Arbitration for Sport has further extended the decision on the silver medal appeal of Vinesh Phogat. The decision, which was set to come by 9:30 PM IST on August 13, has further been delayed to August 16. The timing for the decision is 9:30 PM IST on Friday.
After the hearing was done on August 9, reports suggested the decision would come on the same day but the verdict did not come. It was then expected to come on August 10 but was extended to August 13. And now, there is another extension of three days from August 13 to August 16.
Indian wrestler Vinesh had filed an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a joint silver medal at the Olympics 2024. Vinesh was disqualified from her gold medal match after being found to be about 100 grams overweight in her 50kg wrestling category on the day of the final.
The 29-year-old grappler from Haryana announced her retirement from the sport after being disqualified from the Games. "Wrestling won and I lost. Please forgive me, your dreams and my spirit, everything is crushed and I don't have strength any more. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024 Will forever be grateful to you all. Please forgive me," she wrote in a post on X on August 8, a day after being disqualified from the final.
However, the grappler appealed in the CAS for a silver medal. The Vinesh Phogat vs United World Wrestling hearing was conducted on August 9. The wrestler was represented by four lawyers. Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania alongside the French lawyers kept Vinesh's case. Vinesh, who was the applicant, also attended the hearing virtually.
The Indian Olympic Association is hopeful that Vinesh will get her joint silver. "Indian Olympic Association remained hopeful of a positive resolution of wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s application before the Ad hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against her failed weigh-in on the second day of her Women’s Wrestling 50kg competition in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games," the IOA statement said.
"Since the matter is sub-judice, IOA can only state that the Sole Arbitrator Dr. Annabelle Bennett AC SC (Australia) heard all parties applicant Vinesh Phogat, the respondents United World Wrestling and the International Olympic Committee as well as IOA as an interested party over three hours," it added.
