USA Gymnastics and the USOPC said in a statement that they were “devastated” by Saturday’s decision and argued that the investigation into Chiles’ findings was initiated “in good faith” and in accordance with regulations.
Jordan Chiles could lose their Olympic bronze medal
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the jury wrongly awarded bronze to Chile in the women’s floor exercise final.
PARIS – Jordan Chiles may have to return the bronze medal she won in the floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Saturday that the jury in the women’s floor exercise final wrongly granted a motion that increased Chiles’ score and moved her to the bronze medal position. The Switzerland-based court found that Chiles’ motion was submitted after the one-minute time limit for such motions had expired and therefore should not have been granted.
As a result, according to the CAS, the American gymnast should have received a score of 13.666 in this event – which would have put her in fifth place, just short of the Olympic podium.
The International Gymnastics Federation, which governs the sport, confirmed in a statement later Saturday that Chiles’ score had been restored and that Romania’s Ana Barbosu, who scored 13.7 points, had been moved back to third place.
It remains unclear whether this means that the 23-year-old from Chile will now have to give back her bronze medal. A FIG spokesman said that the reassignment of medals was the responsibility of the International Olympic Committee. The IOC press office did not respond to several requests for comment and clarity on the situation.
“All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?” Chiles’ teammate Sunisa Lee wrote on Instagram. “Totally unacceptable. This is awful and I am devastated for Jordan.”
Simone Biles, who trains with Chiles at the World Champions Centre, added: “We send you so much love, Jordan! Chin up, Olympic champion! We love you!”
The 23-year-old Chiles said immediately after the competition that she was unaware that her coaches Cecile and Laurent Landi had appealed on her behalf, but she became the target of harsh messages on social media accusing her of “stealing” the bronze medal from Romania’s Ana Barbosu.
Chiles appeared to be referring either to the pending CAS proceedings or to the criticism she has received by posting broken heart emojis on her Instagram story.
“I am taking this time to step away from social media for the sake of my mental health, thank you,” she wrote in a second message later Saturday.
USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a joint statement that they were “devastated” by Saturday’s decision and argued that the investigation into Chiles’ outcome was initiated “in good faith and … in accordance with FIG rules.”
“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subjected to constant, completely unfounded and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subjected to such treatment,” the two governing bodies said in a statement.
“We condemn the attacks and those who carry them out, support or instigate them. We commend Jordan for her integrity both on and off the competition floor and we continue to stand by her and support her.”
The news came less than a week after the ultimately dramatic final day of the Olympic gymnastics competitions.
In the final routine of the final competition, Chiles appeared to be only fractions of a point behind Barbosu and another Romanian gymnast, Sabrina Voinea, who had scored 13.700. But then the U.S., in what Chile’s coaches later admitted was a metaphorical cop-out, filed what it called an investigation with the jury, essentially asking them to reconsider a deduction they had imposed on Chiles.
After reviewing the element in question – a split jump called a tour de jeté full – the judges reversed the deduction and increased Chiles’ score by a tenth of a point, earning her bronze.
“I wasn’t confident, but what do you have to lose?” Laurent Landi later told the inquiry. “She was already off the podium, so even if they had lowered the score, it couldn’t have been worse, you know? We tried.”
“I was standing at the same angle as the judge and I felt that (her tour de jeté) was much better than all the other competitions she’s done, so what the heck? We can give it a try.”
The last-minute adjustment was a heartbreaking moment for Barbosu, who had gone to the floor with a Romanian flag, believing she had won bronze. When Chiles’s examination was announced as successful, the 18-year-old Romanian dropped the flag and walked off the podium.
In the days that followed, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that he would not attend the closing ceremony of the Paris Games because of the jury’s decision, while former Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci also criticized the jury’s handling of the investigation.
“I can’t believe we are playing with athletes’ mental health and emotions like this,” Comaneci wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation later filed several appeals with CAS, contesting the outcome of the competition. One of the appeals concerned the investigation filed on behalf of Chiles, which the Romanian Federation said was filed exactly four seconds after the 60-second time limit had expired. The other appeal sought the reversal of a deduction imposed on Voinea for overstepping the playing field.
The CAS upheld the first appeal but rejected the second, leaving all decisions on the final finishing order to the FIG. The FIG then decided on the finishing order, but referred to the IOC when asked about Chile’s medal.
It is initially unclear what legal remedies will be available to USA Gymnastics or the USOPC in the future, although CAS decisions can generally only be appealed to the Swiss Federal Court, which reviews them only on limited and largely procedural grounds.
Chiles was emotional as she accepted the medal and spoke about how incredibly proud she was to have stood on the individual podium at the Paris Games. After helping lead the USA to the silver medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she again played a key role in the team final this year, where the Americans took gold.
“I’m in seventh heaven,” she told reporters after the floor exercise final. “This is my very first (Olympic) individual (apparatus) final, in my second Olympic Games. I’m lost for words.”
Chiles also finished fourth in the all-around qualification but was disqualified from the finals because of a gymnastics rule that limits the field to only two gymnasts per country. Despite finishing fourth, she finished third in the all-around among American gymnasts behind Biles, who went on to win gold, and Lee, who took bronze.
Contributors: Nancy Armour
Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on social media @Tom_Schad.
