BREAKING | Court Of Arbitration For Sport Dismisses Vinesh Phogat's Plea For Joint-Silver Medal At Paris Olympics

In a breaking development, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed a plea by wrestler Vinesh Phogat challenging her disqualification at the Paris Olympics 2024, and seeking a joint-silver medal after she was disqualified from competing in the final for being 100 grams over the permissible weight in her sub-50 kg category.

The CAS had registered her plea, and while a verdict was first scheduled to be delivered on 11th August, it had been subsequently postponed.

The plea filed by Phogat against United World Wrestling was dismissed by a single arbitrator. Notably, Senior Advocate Harish Salve represented the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in the case.

Background

According to reports, Phogat was disqualified from competing in the final bout due to being 'overweight' by 100 grams, weighing in at 50.1 kilograms, while competing for the sub-50kg category.

Under the rules set out by United World Wrestling ('UWW'), the international body charged with overseeing wrestling events at the Olympics, wrestlers are weighed on both days when they compete their bouts. Those who fail to make the weight in their category on either day are disqualified and lose their rank in the entire competition.

Reportedly, while Phogat had made the weight on day one of the competition, she was overweight on the second day, leading to her losing her position in the entire competition, despite having successfully reached the final by defeating all her opponents on day one- when she had made her requisite weight.

This eventually led to the wrestler not even being eligible for a silver medal despite having fairly competed to reach the finals.