The Court of Arbitration for Sports had rejected Vinesh Phogat’s appeal against her disqualification at the Paris Olympics.
Phogat, the Indian wrestler, was disqualified by the IOC for exceeding the permissible weight limit by an excess of 100 grams just before her gold medal bout.
IOA had earlier announced that CAS would pronounce its verdict on August 16. Phogat filed her appeal on August 7 against her disqualification and pleaded for a joint silver medal along with Lopez, citing that she was well within the weight during all her earlier bouts.
The hearing, that went on for more than three hours, was attended by the 29-year-old wrestler virtually.
She is represented by a team of lawyers from France, including Joelle Monlouis, Estelle Ivanova, Habbine Estelle Kim, and Charles Amson, who are handling her case pro bono. Senior counsels Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania are also on her team. Salve is the former Solicitor General of India and the well-known face behind the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
After the news of the disqualification broke out, Vinesh Phogat took to X on Thursday and declared her retirement from wrestling in an emotional post. “Maa kushti won against me, I lost. Forgive me your dream and my courage has been broken. Now I don’t have any more strength. Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024. I shall always remain indebted to you all for forgiveness,” she wrote in a heartfelt post.
