The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has guaranteed that an appeal judgment on Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat will be rendered before the end of the Paris Olympics, allowing her to continue her quest for Olympic gold. Vinesh filed an appeal after being disqualified from the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling final on a technicality that denied her a shot at gold and, normally speaking, any medal since she was overweight by only 100 grammes during the weigh-in.
Just before the last match, Vinesh was disqualified, destroying her dreams of placing on the podium. She quickly filed an appeal with CAS, determined to contest the verdict and investigate the possibility of receiving a shared silver medal.
On Friday, CAS issued an official statement acknowledging Vinesh’s appeal and outlining the procedural steps to be taken. While CAS clarified that it could not grant her request for a second weigh-in or reinstate her in the gold medal match, it did agree to hear her case regarding the potential awarding of a shared silver medal. This development keeps Vinesh’s Olympic aspirations alive as the legal process unfolds.
The sequence of events was outlined in the CAS statement, which stated that Vinesh submitted her application on August 7, one day ahead of her planned final exam. Dr. Annabelle Bennett has been designated as the Sole Arbitrator in this issue. On Friday, the parties involved will have a hearing; a judgement is anticipated before the Olympic Games end.
Due to the circumstances behind Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification as well as the medal implications, her case has attracted a lot of attention. Whether she will be able to take the medal with her or not, when she leaves Paris, will depend on the outcome of this appeal.
