Star wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who stormed into the final of the women's 50kg freestyle event at Paris Olympics 2024 with three wins was disqualified before the gold medal bout as she was found 100gm overweight. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is expected to announce the verdict on Phogat's appeal against her disqualification by today.
Ahead of CAS’s verdict, the youth associated with Ajay Pehelwan Group of Panipat have announced to give Rs 11 lakh cash to Vinesh Phogat, as per the report of Punjab Kesari. Besides this, they have also announced to give her 2 acre of land to build a wrestling academy.
They plan to set up a wrestling academy close to Vinesh’s land in Atta village of Samalkha. They believe that Vinesh should kick-start her own academy to foster and encourage globally competitive athletes, ensuring they're free from any sort of unfair practices.
After she got disqualified, Vinesh filed a petition in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and demanded a silver medal. The CAS decision on Vinesh's appeal is expected to come by 9:30 PM IST today.
Sarah Hildebrandt from the USA emerged victorious against Yusneylis Guzman Lopez from Cuba, clinching the gold medal. The Cuban had lost to Vinesh in the semis, but took Vinesh's spot in the final after the disqualification.
A day after her heartbreaking disqualification, Vinesh announced her retirement from the sport, saying she doesn't have the strength to continue, as sporting icons from across the world threw their weight behind the 29-year-old wrestler who was appearing in her third Olympic Games.
Months before she boarded the plane to Paris, Vinesh was spearheading a protest along with fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment and intimidation by the renowned trio and few other grapplers.
(With inputs from PTI)
