Sports court CAS postpones verdict on Vinesh Phogat's case to August 16

Vinesh Phogat Verdict LIVE: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has postponed its verdict on Vinesh Phogat's case until August 16, 9:30 pm IST. This is the third time that the sports court has requested an extension on the case.

Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the 50kg freestyle wrestling final match at the 2024 Paris Olympics due to exceeding the weight limit by 100 grams.

Vinesh entered the Olympics having to drop 3 kg from her usual weight of 53 kg, a common practice among Olympic wrestlers. She achieved the seemingly impossible feat of defeating Japanese Olympic champion Yui Sasaki with a last-second points victory. She went on to best Ukranian 2018 World Championships bronze medallist Oksana Livach and Cuban wrestler Yusneyis Guzman in the semi-final, making her the first Indian woman to advance to the Olympic final in wrestling.

Vinesh Phogat initially appealed to the CAS ad-hoc bench to nullify her disqualification by the IOC, requesting a new weigh-in and the chance to compete in the final. However, she didn't ask for urgent interim measures. Although the CAS ad-hoc bench delivered a quick verdict, it couldn't hear the parties before the final, which was scheduled for Thursday evening. Vinesh later clarified in her appeal that she wanted the disqualification reversed and a joint silver medal awarded to her. Despite expressing sympathy for Vinesh, United World Wrestling chief Nenad Lalovic told India Today that the rules were followed correctly in her disqualification.