Jordan Chiles’ Medal Situation Explained – NBC Chicago

The saga surrounding Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal took several twists and turns over the weekend, but where do things stand now?

Between court rulings, decisions and now new evidence that calls it all into question, there is a lot to unpack in the situation.

Here’s a look at what happened and when, starting at the beginning:

Jordan Chiles sees the score change in the last minute to win the bronze medal

Chiles qualified third in the women’s floor exercise and competed last in the eight-woman final, where the order was determined randomly in advance.

The 23-year-old completed her routine and earned a score of 13.666, which placed her fifth, just behind Romania’s Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea at 13.700.

Cecile Landi, who is Chiles’ personal trainer and also coached the U.S. team in Paris, asked the judges to restore one element to Chiles’ routine.

The judges upheld the call, increasing Chiles’ score by 0.1, giving her her third career Olympic medal, following the team silver she won in Tokyo 2021 and the team gold she helped the United States win in Paris.

Romania appeals Jordan Chiles score

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation has asked CAS to review the procedure surrounding Landi’s appeal regarding Chiles’ score.

International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) guidelines require coaches to appeal a score within one minute of the score being posted.

While Barbosu remained relatively silent after the incident, Maneca-Voinea was not.

She took to her social media accounts to highlight what she considered to be incorrect scoring during her routine. The judges deducted 0.1 points for going out of bounds as she turned to start a pass in acrobatics.

The videos appear to indicate that Maneca-Voinea did not put his heel on the boundary of the court. The Romanian federation also asked CAS to reinstate Maneca-Voinea’s score for a penalty that was “unfounded”.

Maneca-Voinea launched an aggressive campaign on social media, demanding justice.

Barbosu called for calm earlier in the week, blaming the jury and not the gymnasts

Court rules in favour of Romania – in part

CAS ruled Saturday that U.S. team coach Landi’s request for 0.1 points to be added to Chiles’ score came outside the one-minute window. The CAS ad hoc committee wrote that Landi’s request came one minute and four seconds after Chiles’ initial score was posted.

CAS said on Saturday that the original order of finish should be restored, with Barbosu third, Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth. The organisation added that the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) should determine the final standings “in accordance with the above decision”, but left it up to the federation to decide who would get the medal behind gold medallist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medallist Simone Biles of the United States.

The request regarding Maneca-Voinea’s score was, however, denied in part because his coach did not appeal the score in real time during the match.

Chiles leaves social networks

Chiles, who left Paris after the competition to return home to the United States, went dark on social media shortly before the CAS decision was made public.

Chiles posted on X shortly after the finale: “It’s funny how some people still can’t be happy for someone.”

But in her Instagram story on Saturday, the Olympic gymnast posted a series of broken heart emojis and said she would be “removing myself from social media for my mental health.”

The two-time Olympian has come under attack on her various social media platforms in recent days, with some critics suggesting she return her medal.

In a joint statement with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, USA Gymnastics said Chiles had been the subject of “consistent, completely unfounded and extremely hurtful attacks on social media.”

“No athlete should be subjected to such treatment,” the statement read. “We condemn the attacks and those who commit, support or incite them. We commend Jordan for her integrity, both on and off the field of competition, and we continue to support her.”

Chiles’ mother, Gina Chiles, denounced the criticism in a post, writing that she was “tired” of the derogatory comments directed at Jordan.

“My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with a big heart and unmatched sportsmanship,” Gina Chiles wrote. “And she is being accused of disgusting things.”

Barbosu was keen to clarify after her return to Romania that she had no problem with Chiles.

“I just want everyone to be fair, we don’t want to start picking on other athletes, regardless of their nationality,” Barbosu told reporters. “As athletes, we don’t deserve something like this, we just want to do our best and be rewarded according to our performance. The problem is with the judges, their calculations and their decisions.”

American star and two-time Olympic champion Simone Biles encouraged Chiles, a longtime friend, to “keep your head up.” American star and six-time Olympic medalist Sunisa Lee responded Saturday night, putting the blame on the judges and calling the result “unacceptable.”

IOC says Jordan Chiles must return bronze medal

The FIG announced Saturday night that it would respect the court’s decision and place Romania’s Barbosu in third place. The International Olympic Committee confirmed the decision Sunday, announcing it was reallocating the medal from Monday’s final.

The FIG said that even though the original order had been restored, it was up to the IOC to determine what would happen to the medals.

The IOC said in a statement that it would be in contact with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee regarding the return of Chiles’ bronze and would work with the Romanian Olympic Committee to discuss a reassignment ceremony in Barbosu’s honor.

This decision is in line with how the IOC generally approaches the awarding of medals.

At the Olympics, the governing body of each sport runs the competition and decides the results. The IOC usually accepts this result, once appeals to CAS are completed, and officially awards the medals.

U.S. Olympic Committee Announces Intent to Appeal

“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and that there were critical errors in the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that must be corrected,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in its statement.

The committee has revealed its intention to appeal the decision.

“The initial error occurred in the FIG scoring, and the second error occurred during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given sufficient time or notice to effectively challenge the decision,” said a USOPC statement released Sunday.

The appeal procedure was not specified. The USOPC could appeal to Switzerland’s highest court, the Swiss Tribunal, or to the European Court of Human Rights.

USA Gymnastics Reports New Video Evidence, Seeks to Overturn Court Ruling

USA Gymnastics released a statement Sunday afternoon saying it had submitted “additional evidence” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, just a day after the court ruled to overturn Chiles’ bronze-medal score.

According to USA Gymnastics, new video evidence shows the first investigation into Chiles’ score following her final floor performance well within the one-minute time limit.

Video evidence shows that Landi’s first request to file an investigation came 47 seconds after the score was released.

“Time-stamped video evidence submitted by USA Gymnastics on Sunday night shows that Landi first made his request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score was posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was initially posted,” USA Gymnastics’ statement read. “The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the court’s decision and therefore USAG did not have the opportunity to submit it beforehand.”