American gymnast Jordan Chiles could lose her Olympic bronze medal, won in the women’s floor exercise final.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the event’s jury improperly granted a request for advice that increased Chiles’ score, allowing her to take the bronze medal ahead of Romania’s Ana Barbosu. The Switzerland-based court ruled that the appeal was filed beyond the one-minute time limit for requests for advice and therefore should not have been granted.
Barbosu had originally won the bronze medal on floor Monday and began celebrating his victory on the mat. But U.S. coaches then appealed to the judges about Chiles’ score, and a review resulted in a 0.1-point increase, allowing Chiles to edge out Barbosu for the bronze.
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Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles of Team USA pose with their Paris 2024 Olympic medals after the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Final on day ten of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Bercy Arena on August 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
But the arbitration tribunal has now ruled that Chiles should have received a score of 13.666 in that event, which would have placed her fifth, just off the Olympic podium.
USA Gymnastics and USOPCE said in a statement they were “devastated” by the decision.
“Throughout the appeals process, Jordan has been subjected to constant, completely unfounded and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subjected to such treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who engage in, support or incite them. We commend Jordan for her integrity, both on and off the field of competition, and we continue to support her.”
Jordan Chiles, right, of the United States reacts after winning the bronze medal as teammate Simone Biles, left, celebrates during the women’s artistic gymnastics individual floor final at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
The CAS said it was up to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to decide who will receive the medal.
Chiles posted a series of emotional Instagram stories on Saturday in response to the decision, including one showing a series of broken heart emojis and another including her announcement that she would be quitting social media.
“I am taking this time to step away from social media for my mental health,” Chiles wrote.
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Chilean teammate Suni Lee criticised the judges who made the wrong decision, in her own Instagram stories on Saturday.
“All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges? Completely unacceptable, it’s awful and I’m disgusted for Jordan,” Lee wrote. “I will always support you Joe, you have all my flowers and you will always be an Olympic champion.
If Chiles is stripped of her medal, she would become only the third gymnast in history to be stripped of an Olympic medal. The other two were China’s Dong Fangxiao and Romania’s Andreea Răducan, both of whom were stripped of their medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Răducan’s individual gold medal was stripped after she tested positive for a banned substance contained in cold tablets given to her by a team doctor. China’s team all-around bronze medal was stripped after it was discovered that Dong was only 14 in Sydney, two years too young to compete.
Chiles’ bronze medal made the floor final podium the first Olympic gymnastics podium in history to feature three black medalists.
Simone Biles (silver), Rebeca Andrade (gold) of Brazil and Jordan Chiles (bronze) of the United States show sportsmanship during the podium ceremony for the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on August 5, 2024. (Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images)
Chiles joined her American teammate Simone Biles, the silver medalist, and Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade, the gold medalist. The moment came with a significant image on the podium, as Biles, 27, and Chiles, 23, bowed to either side of their Brazilian opponent Andrade, 25, who had raised her fists in celebration.
Meanwhile, Barbosu was holding a Romanian flag when she looked up and saw the score change on the scoreboard. At that point, she dropped the flag, covered her face with her hands and walked away in tears.
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The initial decision sparked a wave of backlash. Gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci condemned the score change on social media, and Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said Tuesday he would boycott the decision. Paris Olympic Games“closing ceremony on the rating decision.
The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee announced on Wednesday that it would appeal the decision.
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