Vinesh Phogat's appeal dismissed by CAS ad-hoc panel, to return without medal from Paris Olympics

Vinesh Phogat’s last ditch effort to get a medal from the Paris Olympics was denied when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ad-hoc panel dismissed her appeal for a joint-silver in the women’s 50kg wrestling.

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CAS ad-hoc panel issued an operative decision on Wednesday (August 14) which dismissed her appeal. She still has the opportunity to appeal.

“The application filed at the CAS Ad hoc Division by Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat (the Applicant) in relation to the decision taken by United World Wrestling (UWW) to replace her, because of her failed second weigh-in, before the gold medal match of the Women’s Freestyle 50kg competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has been dismissed. Consequently, the UWW decision is confirmed,” said the CAS in a statement.

“The Applicant sought a ruling from the CAS awarding her a (shared) silver medal for the Women’s Freestyle 50kg competition.”

“The matter was referred to the Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett AC SC (AUS), sitting as a Sole Arbitrator, who held a hearing with the parties on 9 August 2024. The full award with reasons will be notified to the parties, and published on the CAS website, as soon as it is available,” the statement went on to add.

In a statement, IOA President PT Usha expressed “shock and disappointment at the decision of the Sole Arbitrator at the CAS to dismiss wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s application against the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).”

Phogat’s appeal came after the Indian wrestler was disqualified from competing in the gold medal match because she was 100 grams overweight at the weigh-in on Wednesday (August 7).

The hearing in the appeal took place on Friday (August 9) and the panel thrice extended the deadline to deliver a decision - most recently on Tuesday.

As per the CAS rules, the ad-hoc “panel shall give a decision within 24 hours of the lodging of the application. In exceptional cases, this time limit may be extended by the President of the ad hoc Division if circumstances so require.”

Vinesh’s pro-bono legal team, IOA’s representatives, Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania, had reportedly argued that the ‘disqualification of an athlete for such a weight infraction on the second of two days warrants a deeper examination’. However, it was not enough of an argument.

By reaching the gold medal clash, Phogat had become the first Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the final of the Olympics.

After a day of protests and backchannel talks by Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with the sport’s governing body (United World Wrestling), an appeal was made with the CAS.

Phogat’s heartbreaking exit put focus on weight-cutting techniques in wrestling.

On the night of the final, Vinesh intensely trained to get rid of the 2.7kg that she had gained after the semi-finals.

India’s Chief Medical Officer Dinshaw Pardiwala revealed that Phogat had worked tirelessly to shed the weight, including jogging, skipping, spending time in the sauna in the heat of Paris.

When all failed, the coaches tried to cut her hair and shorten her clothing vest to bring the weight down further to meet the eligibility criteria. But they were still not able to reach the necessary 50kg mark, which resulted in her disqualification.

On Thursday (August 8), Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling. In a post, she wrote, “Ma, wrestling has won, I have lost. Please forgive me, your dreams and my courage, everything is broken. I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I shall be indebted to you all. Forgive (me),” Vinesh wrote on X.