National Wrestling coach Virendra Dahiya believes that Vinesh Phogat at least deserved a silver medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed her appeal over her disqualification from the women's 50kg event at the Paris Olympics.
CAS released a statement on Wednesday stating: "The application field by Vinesh Phogat on August 7 has been dismissed."
Following the verdict, Dahiya stated that it was unfortunate that the decision went against Vinesh.
"We were hoping that the decision would be in our favour. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Sports Ministry and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) were hoping that the decision would be in our favour, but unfortunately, the decision was not in our favour, and we missed out on a gold medal. Vinesh is the most reputed women's wrestler in India. She is very hard-working. We are really sad because we deserved at least a silver. This is an injustice to us," Dahiya told ANI.
According to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), the verdict was originally scheduled for Tuesday, August 13 at 9.30 pm IST, but was delayed to August 16. However, the decision was announced on Wednesday.
2008 Olympic medalist India boxer Vijender Singh extended support to Vinesh after CAS dismissed her plea.
"This is an unfortunate thing for us. We could have won gold in the Olympics if she had made it through the finals. We are standing with Vinesh and will always support her. This is sad news, and I am not happy with this news."
Vinesh was set to face American Sarah Hildebrandt for the gold medal on August 7 but was found 100 grams overweight despite starving herself and spending hours in a sauna the previous night to cut down to her competition weight.
The disqualification meant Phogat did not receive a medal and she filed an appeal in sport's highest court challenging the decision of governing body United World Wrestling.
Cuba's Yusneylys Guzman Lopez replaced Phogat in the final, which Hildebrandt won 3-0 to take the gold.
An emotional Phogat had said after the disqualification that she would retire from wrestling.
