Vinesh leaves Games village ahead of CAS verdict: ‘Still not talking to anyone’

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat left the Paris Olympic Games village on Monday following the end of the closing ceremony for the 33rd edition of the Summer Games. The wrestler is expected to arrive in New Delhi on Tuesday, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will announce the much-awaited verdict on her plea for a joint silver medal after her disqualification at the Paris Olympics.
Exactly a week back, Vinesh took the wrestling world by storm when she beat then-defending champion and world no. 1 Yui Susaki in her Paris Olympics opener en route to becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to make an Olympics final. However, she was debarred from the women’s 50kg freestyle gold-medal bout on the following morning after she was found being overweight by 100 grams during the customary weigh-in.
Crestfallen by the cruel turn of events and having suffered from dehydration, following an extreme route to cut down the three kilos of weight gained through the course of her three bouts on Tuesday, Vinesh lost consciousness and was admitted to a polyclinic inside the Games village. Upon recovery, she appealed to the CAS, demanding a joint silver medal alongside Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who had lost to the Indian in the semis but replaced her for the final bout following her disqualification.
Even as India remains hopeful of a positive verdict from the CAS on Tuesday, sources close to India Today have confirmed that while Vinesh has been feeling better since being disqualified last week, she hasn’t talked to anyone yet.
“Vinesh is feeling a little better now, started eating a bit. She is not talking to anyone though. We are all with her,” sources told the website ahead of her departure from the Games Village.
Vinesh had stayed back in Paris owing to her appeal to the CAS. The appeal was accepted earlier last week, and the wrestler was even virtually present during the hearing on Friday. She was represented by senior counsels Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania, and sole Arbitrator Dr Annabelle Bennett of Australia heard all the arguments for the case during the three-hour hearing.
The ad-hoc division of the sports court CAS was slated to announce the verdict on Saturday, before they extended the deadline till Tuesday, 9:30 pm IST.