Will Vinesh Phogat win her appeal against her disqualification from the women's 50kg final of the Paris Olympics? Well, we will need to wait another three days to find out.
The ad-hoc division of the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), which was to announce its final verdict on August 13, has sought a further extension of three days. The final decision will be announced on August 16 at 9:30pm IST.
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Here's the complete timeline of the last week in Vinesh's life, where she produced her career's best wrestling and is now wrestling against her disqualification -
August 6: Vinesh has the toughest possible draw: an opening-round bout against top seed and world #1 Yui Susaki - but she beats Susaki, the first defeat for the Japanese in her international career. Vinesh then beats two-time European Games medallist Oksana Livach and Pan-American Games champion Yusneylys Guzman Lopez to become the first Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic final. Later that evening, Vinesh was back to training as she needed to cut around 2kgs before the next morning.
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August 7: Vinesh is up all night and takes drastic measures, including cutting her hair, but it's not enough in the end - she fails the weigh-in by 100 grams and is disqualified from the competition. It meant she would not be eligible for the silver medal despite making the final and she would be ranked last among the 16 competitors.
Late in the day, Vinesh appeals to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) and seeks to be awarded a joint-silver medal. CAS asks till Thursday morning to reply to the appeal.
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August 8: At 5:17am IST, Vinesh announces her retirement from the sport. In a heartfelt social media post, Vinesh writes that she has no strength left to continue. The CAS accepts Vinesh's appeal and the matter is referred to the Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett AC SC, sitting as a Sole Arbitrator, who holds a hearing with the parties that day. The CAS' statement says a final decision is expected to be issued before the end of the Games. Former Solicitor General of India, Harish Salve, is roped in to represent the IOA at the hearing.
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August 9: The hearing into Vinesh's appeal concludes at the ad-hoc division of the CAS. Vinesh is represented by a group of pro bono French lawyers who are part of a panel set up for the Olympics to fight urgent cases that come before CAS. The IOA, which is an interested party in the case, is represented by Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania. The IOA said it "remained hopeful of a positive resolution."
August 10: A statement from the IOA says the verdict will be announced on August 11, but in a chaotic turn of events, it later issues a correction that that the deadline was for the parties to submit additional documents and that the final verdict would only be known only on August 13.
"The ad-hoc division of CAS has extended time for the Sole Arbitrator Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett in the Vinesh Phogat vs. United World Wrestling & the International Olympic Committee matter to give a decision till 6-00 p.m. on August 13, 2024," a statement from the IOA read.
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August 13: The CAS' ad-hoc division says it will need another three days to announce a final verdict. The CAS will now announce its final decision on August 16 at 9:30pm IST. In what added to the mystery surrounding the case, a scheduled press conference (via Zoom) with IOA president PT Usha and Harish Salve, representing the association in the case, was cancelled without any explanation or update. Reporters who clicked on the meeting link at the scheduled time got an "invalid" message.
August 14: The CAS' ad-hoc division dismisses Vinesh's appeal, which means she will not be awarded a joint-silver medal and will be ranked last among the 16 wrestlers in her weight division.