CAS ad hoc division extends time till August 11 for Vinesh Phogat's case
Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who was disqualified from the final of the women's 50 kg freestyle wrestling event, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to consider her cause for a shared silver medal.
The CAS was expected to announce its verdict today at 18:00 Paris time. However, the CAS's ad hoc division has extended the deadline until 18:00 Paris time (9:30 PM IST) on August 13 for the sole arbitrator, Hon. Dr. Annabelle Bennett, to make a decision. The detailed order will be released at a later date.
Vinesh Phogat was supposed to take on USA's Sarah Hildebrandt in the final of the aforementioned event. However, she accumulated approximately two kilograms on Tuesday night.
She didn't sleep the entire night and didn't even eat anything. She tried jogging, cycling and skipping to shed the added weight. The next morning, when her weight was measured, it was discovered that she weighed roughly 100 grams more than the permissible limit. This led to her disqualification from the event.
Neeraj Chopra provides support to Vinesh Phogat
Neeraj Chopra who won a silver medal in the men's javelin throw event two days ago, said about Vinesh Phogat to the media:
"All of us know that if she gets the medal it will be really good. She would have got the medal if such a situation did not arise. If we don't get the medal, people remember us for some time and say we are their champions but if we don't get the medal they forget us as well. I just want to request people to not forget what Vinesh has done for the country."
If the decision goes in favor of Vinesh Phogat, she will become the seventh medal winner for India at the Paris Olympics. Before her, Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh, Swapnil Kusale, the Indian hockey team, Neeraj Chopra and Aman Sehrawat have won medals.
On the aforementioned list, only Neeraj Chopra won a silver. If Phogat is allowed a shared silver, she will become India's second silver-medal winner at the Paris Games, also matching the nation's medal tally to the previous edition in Tokyo.