A timeline of Vinesh’s ordeal as CAS dismisses plea for joint silver medal

Vinesh Phogat’s chances of winning a maiden Olympic medal was delivered a final blow on Wednesday with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissing her plea for a joint silver medal at Paris 2024. The statement from CAS brought to an end an extraordinary saga that started with Vinesh’s incredible run on the first day of the women’s 50kg wrestling bouts at the recently concluded Games before she was sensationally disqualified from the gold medal match due to being marginally overweight on the second day of weigh-ins.
Vinesh was up against Japanese Olympic champion Yui Sasaki in her first bout on August 6. Sasaki was yet to lose an international wrestling match in her illustrious senior career but Vinesh did the unthinkable and beat the Japanese wrestler 3-2 in a result that sent shockwaves throughout the wrestling world. She then beat Ukranian former World Championships bronze medallist Oksana Livach in the quarterfinal and then beat Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman in the semi-final. Vinesh had thus become the first Indian woman to reach an Olympic final in wrestling and she was set to become the first from the country to win a medal above bronze. However, news emerged early next day that Vinesh was quite stunningly dismissed from gold medal match against USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt after missing her weight in the second-day weight in by 100gm.
If Vinesh’s campaign on the first wave earned widespread applause form the wrestling world, her disqualification was met with shock and disbelief in the sport’s community and in India. Further reports emerged of the extreme measures Vinesh and her coaching staff took throughout the night after her first day of bouts to ensure that she somehow goes below 50kg, including drawing out blood and cutting her hair.
August 6 – Vinesh Phogat reaches Olympic final in women’s 50kg
August 7 – Vinesh disqualified after being 100gm over the weight limit of 50kg
The Wrestling Federation of India files an appeal with United World Wrestling
Vinesh appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the disqualification and demands a joint silver medal
August 8 – Vinesh Phogat retires
August 9 – Hearing into Vinesh’s appeal concludes at the ad-hoc division of CAS in Paris
August 10 – CAS postpones announcement of verdict to August 13, the IOA says in a statement
August 13 – IOA says that the CAS has further postponed the announcement of the verdict to August 16
August 14 – CAS dismisses Vinesh’s plea for a joint silver medal. “The full award with reasons will be notified to the parties, and published on the CAS website, as soon as it is available,” the international tribunal says in its release.