Forum: gaming.stackexchange.com
Tags: <pokemon-go>
Title: Can someone "steal" my Gym?
Question: When I defeat a gym and get its prestige level to zero, is there a cool-down where only I, the conqueror, can place a Pokémon in it?  I wonder if someone could just wait at a public place for the moment when the gym becomes blank.  However, if such a cool-down exists, does anybody know how long it is?

Answers:
sents: text: From personal experience: I don't think there's a cooldown.
text: I had beaten a gym some days ago and the game was pretty laggy.
text: When I was finally able to place a pokemon, the gym was already another color.
text: No official information though, sorry.
text: EDIT:
text: The game updated since I posted this answer.
text: The answer is no longer correct!
text: New answer is: It is not possible to steal someone's gym now, battle winners have priority.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/154245/Dwarz
score: 49
sents: text: Yes.
text: Anyone can place a Pokemon in an open gym as soon as prestige drops to 0, there is no cooldown after battles.
text: I was just in an area where the gym was held by my team, and it went white.
text: I immediately put my own Pokemon in the gym, and recaptured it.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/155230/Ben Murphy
score: 40
sents: text: I think it's a free for all.
text: I just won my first gym battle and by the time I healed my main Pokemon and put him in the gym it briefly turned yellow then gave me an error bar at the top and it switched to red.
text: The occupier was low level but I had to reboot as the gym battle glitch happened.
text: By the time I got back in someone else from yellow team captured it
text: and I was able to add my own Pokemon and take gym lead.
text: It seems like taking control of a gym is extremely chaotic and unpredictable.
text: I noticed that a lot of the gyms around me with 1300cp Pokemon were going down and being replaced by teams with less than 500 Cp.
text: I understand why now.
text: Once it's open
text: the vultures come
text: out.i think they need to rethink this system.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/155302/Chucknastical
score: 4
sents: text: The game had an update a while ago, now there is a cooldown where only the victor can place a pokemon in the gym.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/154245/Dwarz
score: 3
sents: text: I have literally just stolen a gym.
text: I was training my gym to put another Pokemon in it when some kid turned up and kept beating my gym and taking over it.
text: While we was going back and forth fighting for control, I noticed the gym change from red (my colour) to white
text: so I clicked it and placed a Pokemon there.
text: I did feel tight when the kid said he just beat the gym but it wouldn't let him put a Pokemon there.
text: But hey, "I wanna be the very best!"
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/157628/Lee Yerex
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
Anyone used to be able to place a Pokemon in an open gym as soon as prestige drops to 0, there is no cooldown after battles.  The game had an update a while ago, now there is a cooldown where only the victor can place a pokemon in the gym.
Whereas in the past it was possible to steal someone's gym when the prestige dropped to 0, now this has been fixed and there is a cooldown.