A timeline of Vinesh Phogat's ordeal as CAS dismisses plea for joint Paris Olympics silver
The CAS dismissed Vinesh Phogat's plea on Wednesday, ending her quest for a maiden Olympic medal.
Vinesh Phogat's chances of winning a maiden Olympic medal was delivered a final blow on Wednesday with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissing her plea for a joint silver at Paris 2024. The statement from CAS brought to an end an extraordinary saga that started with Vinesh's incredible run on the first day of the women's 50kg wrestling bouts at the recently concluded Games before she was sensationally disqualified from the gold medal match due to being marginally overweight on the second day of weigh-ins.
Vinesh was up against Japanese Olympic champion Yui Sasaki in her first bout on August 6. Sasaki had yet to lose an international wrestling match in her illustrious senior career but Vinesh did the unthinkable and beat the Japanese 3-2 in a result that sent shockwaves throughout the wrestling world. She then beat Ukranian former World Championships bronze medallist Oksana Livach in the quarterfinal and then beat Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman in the semi-final. Vinesh had thus become the first Indian woman to reach an Olympic final in wrestling, and she was set to become the first athlete in the country to win a medal above bronze in Paris. However, news emerged early the next day that Vinesh was stunningly dismissed from the gold medal match against USA's Sarah Hildebrandt after missing her weight at the second-day weigh-in by 100gm.
If Vinesh's campaign on the first wave earned widespread applause form the wrestling world, her disqualification was met with shock and disbelief in the sport's community and in India. Further reports emerged of the extreme measures Vinesh and her coaching staff took throughout the night after her first day of bouts to ensure that she somehow goes below 50kg, including drawing out blood and cutting her hair.
The Wrestling Federation of India filed an appeal with the United World Wrestling, the sport's global governing body. Later, Vinesh filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, demanding a joint-silver medal with whoever it is that loses the final. Guzman, whom she had beaten in the semi-final, ended up taking her place in the final and lost the gold-medal bout to Hildebrandt.
Here is a timeline of all that has happened since the start of Vinesh's campaign at the Paris Olympics:
August 6 - Vinesh Phogat reaches Olympic final in women's 50kg
August 7 - Vinesh disqualified after being 100gm over the weight limit of 50kg
The Wrestling Federation of India files an appeal with United World Wrestling
Vinesh appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the disqualification and demands a joint silver medal
August 8 - Vinesh retires. "Ma Kusti (Mother, wrestling) won against me, I lost. Forgive me, your dream and my courage has been broken. I don't have any more strength now," she says on Twitter.
August 9 - Hearing into Vinesh's appeal concludes at the ad-hoc division of CAS in Paris
August 10 - CAS postpones announcement of verdict to August 13, the IOA says in a statement
August 13 - IOA says that the CAS has further postponed the announcement of the verdict to August 16
August 14 - CAS dismisses Vinesh's plea for a joint silver medal. "The full award with reasons will be notified to the parties, and published on the CAS website, as soon as it is available," the international tribunal says in its release.