New video evidence may have captured the moment the investigation into Jordan Chiles’ Olympic floor routine score was conducted — and it could make a big difference in the decisions surrounding her bronze medal, USA Gymnastics announced Sunday.
The organization 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’ score that earned him the bronze medal.
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.
Chiles finished her Olympic floor routine Monday with a score of 13.666, which put her in fifth place, just behind two Romanian athletes. Cecile Landi, who is Chiles’ personal coach 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, enough for Chiles to win his third career Olympic medal.
But the Romanian Gymnastics Federation has asked CAS to review the procedure surrounding Landi’s appeal over Chiles’ score.
International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) guidelines require coaches to appeal a score within one minute of the score being posted.
CAS ruled that Landi had formally appealed in one minute and four seconds, just after the one-minute time limit.
USA Gymnastics has now said video evidence has emerged showing Landi’s first request to file an investigation 47 seconds after the score was posted.
“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.”
USA Gymnastics said it sent a letter, along with the video, asking the court to review its decision and reinstate Chiles’ score.
Here’s an explanation of what’s happened so far:
Jordan Chiles sees his score change in the last minute and wins 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 received a score of 13.666, which placed her fifth, just behind Barbosu and 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.
CAS ruled that Landi had formally appealed in one minute and four seconds, just after the one-minute time limit.
Chiles’ appeal was upheld, with CAS deciding that Chiles’ score should be reduced to 13.666 and the original finishing order should be reinstated.
IOC says Jordan Chiles must return bronze medal
The CAS said in its decision that the FIG should determine the final ranking, but added that the FIG should award the medal “in accordance” with the CAS decision. The FIG placed Barbosu third, Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth.
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 announced that the bronze medal would indeed go to Barbosu and that it would work with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee to have Chiles’ bronze medal returned.
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.
Reaction of the gymnasts
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 line. The Romanian federation has asked CAS to reinstate Maneca-Voinea’s score for a penalty that was “unfounded”.
The request was denied in part because Maneca-Voinea’s coach did not appeal the score in real time during the match.
Chiles, who left Paris earlier this week to return 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.”
Maneca-Voinea launched an aggressive campaign on social media, demanding justice.
Barbosu had called for calm earlier in the week, blaming the jury and not the gymnasts.
The Paris Olympics marked something of a comeback for one of the sport’s former superpowers. Romania’s program won a medal in the team finals at 10 consecutive Olympics between 1976 and 2012 before falling on hard times in the last decade. When Barbosu and her teammates took to the track for qualifying on July 28, it was her country’s first appearance under the rings in 12 years.
“As athletes, we don’t deserve something like this. We just want to perform as best we can and be rewarded according to our performances,” Barbosu said after returning to Romania. “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.”
