Vinesh Phogat's Quest For Silver Gets Boost As CAS Accepts Plea, IOA Dials Harish Salve

Vinesh Phogat's appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) is set to begin around 9:30 am Paris time (1 pm IST) on August 9, 2024. The interim verdict is expected approximately an hour later. This hearing is crucial for Vinesh and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), as the CAS, in its initial assessment, found merit in Vinesh's plea to be awarded a joint silver medal in the women's 50kg wrestling category and accepted the appeal.

Vinesh was disqualified from the Paris Olympics 2024 just hours before her gold-medal match against Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the USA. The disqualification came after she failed the weigh-in process, being found 100g overweight. Despite securing at least a silver medal by becoming the first Indian female wrestler to reach an Olympic final, Vinesh was stripped of her medal chances.

In response, Vinesh and the IOA appealed to the CAS. While their first appeal against her disqualification from the final was rejected, their second plea for a joint-silver medal was accepted. The IOA, represented by senior advocate Harish Salve, argued that the 100g excess weight was "extremely negligible" and likely caused by natural factors such as bloating due to summer heat or muscle mass increase from previous matches.

"The excess of 100g is extremely negligible (representing around 0.1 to 0.2% of the athlete's weight) and can easily be caused by the bloating of a human body during summer weather, as the heat makes the human body retain more water, scientifically for survival purposes. It can also be due to muscle mass increase as the athlete competed three times on the same day. It can also be caused by the food consumption of the athlete after the competitions to sustain her health and integrity for the demanding competitions.

"The conditions under which she 'regained' weight after her first fights clearly show that this was not a case of excess weight providing any advantage whatsoever, but merely the implementation of a classic and essential recovery process. Finally, it should be remembered that the CAS must uphold the fundamental rights of athletes, including the right to respect for their physical integrity," the legal statement read.

Vinesh, who has announced her retirement from wrestling, now waits for the CAS's decision, which could potentially restore some of her Olympic glory.