After she was disqualified from the gold medal bout for being 100 grams over the stipulated weight, Vinesh Phogat, backed by the Indian Olympic Association, had appealed the decision to the CAS, which is the highest sporting court.

Back home in India, there was a massive outcry about the decision with legends like Sachin Tendulkar batting for the wrestler and slamming the decision for ‘defying logic and sporting sense’. Not just in India, Vinesh Phogat was getting plenty of support abroad too, with legendary wrestler Jordan Burroughs leading a social media campaign for her to be awarded a silver medal.

The CAS had appointed a sole Arbitrator Dr Annabelle Bennett AC SC (Australia) to adjudicate the case. She had heard both sides in a hearing that lasted for three hours on Friday evening.

Vinesh Phogat (with the IOA in the Indian wrestler’s corner as an “interested party”) had asked sports’ highest court to award her a shared silver medal. In its arguments, the Indian side has cited distance between the wrestling venue and the Athletes Village, and the tight schedule between bouts to be among the reasons for Vinesh Phogat’s inability to remain within the prescribed weight for the category, which resulted in her disqualification for the 50kg class gold medal bout.

Vinesh Phogat’s legal team had also argued that the extra 100g on the second morning gave her no competitive advantage, but was a result of the implementation of a ‘classic and essential recovery process.’

‘The excess of 100g is extremely negligible (representing around 0.1 to 0.2 percent 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,” Phogat’s counsel submitted.

Phogat’s counsel claimed that the imperative of preserving athletes’ health must take precedence over all other considerations.

Sarah Hildebrandt from the USA had won the gold medal by defeating Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez. The Cuban had lost to Vinesh in the semis, but took Vinesh’s spot in the final after the disqualification.

Susaki Yui of Japan defeated Oksana Livach of Ukraine in the bronze medal match for the half that had Vinesh in it. In the second half’s bronze medal match, Feng Ziqi of People’s Republic of China beat Otgonjargal Dolgorjav of Mongolia to win the second bronze.