Vinesh Phogat has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland over her disqualification from the gold medal match in the 50kg wrestling category at the Paris Olympics. Multiple reports late on Wednesday night suggest that Vinesh has requested a joint silver medal and CAS has asked till Thursday morning to reply to the appeal.
An Ad hoc Division of the CAS has been set up in Paris for resolution by arbitration of any disputes arising during the Olympic Games or during a period of 10 days preceding the Opening Ceremony.
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Vinesh had been disqualified on Wednesday morning after failing to make the correct weight on day 2 of competition when she was due to take part in the final, despite the best efforts of her team overnight. As a result of the disqualification, Vinesh was placed last in the category and her place in the final was taken by the Cuban Guzman Lopez, whom Vinesh had beaten in the semifinal. Additionally, both Yui Susaki and Oksana Livach, whom Vinesh had beaten in the first two rounds, contested a bronze medal bout between each other in the repechage due to the Cuban moving into the final.
Explained: Why was Vinesh Phogat disqualified from Paris Olympics? How does wrestling weigh-in work?
ESPN understands that the appeal was made this evening, through the Indian Olympic Association. The IOA President PT Usha also met Vinesh at the Olympic Village's medical centre this afternoon, where she was said to have been injected with intravenous fluids to rehydrate after the rigorous process she underwent to lose weight.
Vinesh was within the permissible weight limit of 50kg on Tuesday morning before her first day of competition. Her weight increased through the day as she replenished herself in between the three bouts. It is understood she had to lose about 2kg overnight. Despite having worked all night, the Indian eventually fell short by about 100 grams this morning.
CAS has already intervened in this Olympic Games - French badminton players Lucas Corvée and Ronan Labar had been included in a revised men's doubles draw after a CAS intervention. The draw was expanded to 17 pairs to accommodate them after BWF failed to add them due to a calculation error.
What does the rule say?
Article 11 of the United World Wrestling's rule book says an athlete who doesn't make the weight cut will be eliminated from the competition. "If an athlete does not attend or fail the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), he will be eliminated of the competition and ranked last, without rank."
By the above law, Vinesh's disqualification seems to have been taken by the book, but now it is understood that CAS will issue an interim order on Thursday morning.