The Court of Arbitration for Sport stated on Saturday that Vinesh Phogat’s appeal for a joint silver medal following her disqualification from an Olympic final due to missing weight might occur as late as Tuesday.
The top court in sports initially stated that a ruling was anticipated by the conclusion of the Olympics; however, CAS has extended the deadline for lone arbiter Annabelle Bennett. The deadline may be extended “in exceptional circumstances,” the court ruled.
When Phogat missed the weight cut for the 50 kg final against Sarah Hildebrandt of the United States on Wednesday, she has filed a challenge to her disqualification. On the morning of the championship match, the Indian wrestler was discovered to be 100 grammes overweight and was immediately eliminated from the competition. Guzman Lopez replaced Phogat in the final, and American Sarah Hildebrandt defeated Guzman Lopez 3-0 to win the gold medal.
Vinesh Phogat announced Thursday on social media that she would retire from the sport. “My courage is broken, I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye Wrestling, 2001-2024.”
After Vinesh Phogat’s disastrous weigh-in, Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha drew criticism on Sunday, emphasising that athletes must control their weight and that the attack on the organization’s medical staff—chief medical officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala in particular—is ‘unacceptable and worthy of condemnation.’ Heartbroken, the 29-year-old Vinesh announced her retirement after learning she had been disqualified from her gold-medal freestyle 50kg bout because she had weighed in 100 grammes overweight in the morning. This setback crushed her Olympic hopes.
‘…the responsibility of weight management of athletes in sport like wrestling, weightlifting, boxing and judo is that of each athlete and his or her coach and NOT that of the IOA-appointed Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala and his team,’ Usha said in a statement.
‘…the hate directed at the IOA medical team, especially Dr. Pardiwala, is unacceptable and worthy of condemnation.’ She hoped that those rushing to judge the IOA medical team ‘would consider all facts before arriving at any conclusions’.
At the Stade de France, the 2024 Olympic closing ceremony has officially started.
