By Nick Butler at the Main Press Centre in Sochi

Austrian skier Daniela Bauer had her appeal rejected by CAS and will not feature at Sochi 2014 ©Getty ImagesFebruary 4 - Halfpipe freestyle skier Daniela Bauer has seen her appeal against her non-selection for the Austrian Olympic team at Sochi 2014 rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).


The 27-year-old filed against both the Austrian Ski Federation (ASF) and the Austrian National Olympic Committee (NOC) after she was omitted from the team, despite securing a quota place after several top 20 performances this year on the World Cup circuit. 

But, in its first case since being formed ahead of the Games in Sochi, the special ad hoc division of CAS took two hours to make their decision.

They found that "neither the ASF nor the Austrian NOC, discriminated against the athlete and that the ASF did not exercise its discretion in an arbitrary, unfair or unreasonable manner".

This was because it had a "legitimate sports performance justification for not recommending that the AOC nominate the athlete for an allocation quota".

The four-strong panel also emphasised that, while Bauer may have been told by an official within the ASF that she would be selected because she had secured a quota place, the official had no right to do so, so the decision stands. 

Because she was not recommended by the ASF, the Austrian NOC then had no reason to pick the athlete, so were also absolved of any blame.