Olympian Jordan Chiles spoke this week in her first interview since being stripped of her bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The star gymnast, who was stripped of her bronze medal in the women’s floor exercise final in August, spoke on the subject at the 2024 Forbes Power Women’s Summit in New York City on Wednesday.

“The most important thing that was taken away from me was the recognition of who I am,” Chiles said, pausing halfway through and becoming emotional. “Not just my sport, but the person I am.”

“For me, everything that happened is not about the medal, it’s about the color of my skin. It’s about the fact that there were things that led to this position as an athlete,” she said.

She added: “I felt like I did in 2018 when I lost the love of the sport. I lost it again. I felt like I was really left in the dark.”

Referring to a coach she reportedly had in 2018 who “emotionally and verbally abused” her (without naming the coaches), Chiles said losing the medal once again made her feel like she had no voice.

“No one could hear me,” she said.

She added: “I made history and I will always make history. And I did the right thing: I followed the rules. My coach followed the rules. We did everything absolutely right.”

Chiles initially finished fifth in the individual floor exercise final at the Paris Olympics, but was then moved up to the bronze medal position after her coaches objected to the scoring of one of the elements of her routine. In moving from fifth to third place, she leapfrogged two Romanian gymnasts – including Ana Barbosu, who had already started to celebrate bronze.

The International Gymnastics Federation has since awarded Barbosu third place after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Chiles’ coach’s appeal at the event was invalid. CAS said Chiles’ score was “increased after the one-minute time limit had expired.” CAS said the appeal came too late and reinstated Chiles’ incorrect score of 13.666.

According to USA Gymnastics, the CAS later stated that it would not hear Chiles’ appeal to strip her of her bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, despite new evidence.

After the unsuccessful appeal, Chiles shared her feelings about losing the medal on Instagram.

“I am at a loss for words. This decision feels unfair and is a heavy blow, not only for me but for everyone who has supported my journey,” she wrote in a statement at the time.

“To add to the suffering, the unsolicited racist attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful. I have put my heart and soul into this sport and am so proud to represent my culture and my country,” she continued.

Chiles took home a medal from the Olympics, helping Team USA to gold in the women’s team all-around in artistic swimming. She was also part of the team that won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.