The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the petition from wrestler Vinesh Phogat to be awarded a joint silver medal at the Paris Olympics. This move came just a day after the CAS had bought itself more time to decide the fate of Vinesh Phogat’s silver medal. On Tuesday, the CAS had deferred the verdict till August 16, Friday.
After she was heartbreakingly disqualified from competing in the final of the 50kg weight class for being 100 grams over the permissible limit, Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement from sport. But not before deciding to fight for her medal, this time in the court: assisted by the Indian Olympic Association, Vinesh Phogat knocked on the doors of the CAS to be awarded a shared silver medal. At present, Sarah Hildebrandt from the USA has been awarded gold while Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who Vinesh beat in the semi-final, was asked to compete for the gold medal against Hildebrandt and claimed silver.
In the repechage rounds, Yui Susaki of Japan (stunned by Vinesh in the first round) beat Oksana Livach of Ukraine by technical superiority to claim bronze, while in the bronze medal match, Feng Ziqi of People’s Republic of China beat Otgonjargal Dolgorjav to claim the other bronze.
One of the contentions of Vinesh Phogat, her legal team and the IOA is that she had been under the weight limit for the first day of the competition where she had reached the 50kg final.
If Vinesh Phogat had been successful in her bid, she would have been awarded joint silver medal along with Yusneylis Guzman Lopez.