Vinesh Phogat was on the verge of rewriting history at the Paris Olympics 2024 by becoming the first ever female Indian wrestler to have qualified for an Olympic final. She had even defeated Japan’s undefeatable Yui Susaki on her way to the final.
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However, her happiness was cut short by an uneventful announcement on the morning of the day of the final. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had taken the step to disqualify Phogat from the final of the women’s freestyle wrestling in the 50 kg category.
The 29-year-old was set to take on USA’s Sarah Hilderbrandt in the final after defeating Cuba’s Yusnelys Guzman. However she was stripped of her spot from the final, while the Cuban got the chance to feature against Hilderbrandt despite losing the semi-finals.
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Why was Vinesh Phogat disqualified?
Phogat’s disqualification news came as a shocker for people residing in the subcontinent. Her disqualification from the competition was also speculated to have been politically motivated.
However, it was later revealed that Phogat had been disqualified because of being overweight to participate in the 50 kg weight category. She was estimated to have put on 1.5 kgs after her recovery meal following the semi-final, but a huge miscalculation by the team resulted in Phogat putting on 2.7 kgs with less than 24 hours to go for the final.
She had to go through a highly physically and mentally strenuous procedure to cut her weight in such a short period and fit into the weight category. The athlete gave her everything to achieve the impossible task, unfortunately though, she missed the weight class by a whisker. Phogat was found to be just 100 gms overweight ahead of the final, resulting in an instant disqualification.
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According to the rules, once disqualified, the athlete will be seeded last in the standings and stripped of any medals if won. This resulted in Phogat not even winning the silver medal despite their efforts. Phogat appealed to the Court of Arbitration (CAS) with an appeal for a silver medal.
What happened in Vinesh Phogat's CAS hearing?
After days of deliberations by the CAS, multiple medial reports claimed on Wednesday that Vinesh Phogat's appeal for a joint silver medal in the Women's 50kg freestyle wrestling was dismissed by the international court.
The official verdict, however, is expected to be delivered on Friday, August 16 and 9:30 PM IST.