Vinesh Phogat shares cryptic photo on Instagram after CAS rejects joint-silver medal appeal

After the Court of Arbitration for Sports' (CAS) turned down Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat's appeal of giving her a joint-silver in Paris Olympics 2024, the 29-year-old shared a cryptic picture of her lying on the mat with her hands on her forehead.

Interestingly, Phogat did not add a caption along with her picture which she uploaded on Instagram.

Phogat was disqualified before her women’s 50kg event gold-medal bout against USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt after she was found 100 grams overweight.

Earlier, she defeated Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the semi-final and became the first Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the final of a wrestling event in the Olympics. Had fortune been in her favour, Phogat could have become only the second Indian female wrestler with an Olympic medal after Sakshi Malik.

After Vinesh was disqualified, the Cuban replaced her as the other finalist and eventually, Hildebrandt won gold. 

As per the United World Wrestling (UWW) rules, Vinesh finished last.

Vinesh Phogat etched her name in the annals of Olympic wrestling history by defeating Japan's Yui Susaki in the opening round. 

In 2016, Vinesh’s campaign in Rio ended due to a knee injury after which she suffered a shock exit despite being a top seed. Just when it seemed that she would finish on the podium, luck eluded her.