Will Jordan Chiles retain her bronze medal after a court ruling saw her gymnastics floor score overturned following a timing dispute?
The answer was not clear on Saturday.
According to a decision by the International Gymnastics Federation and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, only Chiles’ score will return to its initial level.
The final ranking of the event will, however, be in the hands of the International Gymnastics Federation, which will “award the medals.”
According to NBC News, a similar situation decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2022 would suggest that if the scores were adjusted in favor of Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, she could be awarded a bronze medal while Chiles would also keep her medal.
The International Gymnastics Federation, however, has yet to comment on the decision and what it would mean for Chiles.
Here’s a look at what we know so far:
What happened to Chiles’ score?
After Monday’s women’s final, American star Jordan Chiles looked unlikely to medal, finishing fifth with a score of 13.666. But while fans expected to see silver medalist Simone Biles as the only American on the podium, Chiles was seen leaping into the air.
“I was the first to see… I jumped for joy,” Chiles, who lost his voice while shouting and clapping, told reporters after the event.
The U.S. team filed a protest on Chiles’ difficulty score, which was then reviewed by the judges and, unexpectedly, his score was adjusted. Chiles’ score was revised to 13.766, just enough to give him the bronze medal.
That left Maneca-Voinea and teammate Ana Barbosu without a medal after each finishing with a score of 13.700.
The challenge concerned Chiles’ Tour Jete Full, one of the elements of her routine that the U.S. team said was not properly scored. Chiles was not credited for the move in qualifying and the team final, they said. The judges agreed, and the decision allowed Chiles to pass Maneca-Voinea and Barbosu and take third place.
But the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee appealed the judge’s decision, arguing that the controversial U.S. investigation was filed after the one-minute deadline.
On Saturday, the International Gymnastics Federation and the Court of Arbitration for Sport agreed that the time limit had in fact been exceeded by a minute and voted to overturn Chiles’ score.
“The request made on behalf of Ms. Jordan Chiles in the Women’s Floor Exercise Final was raised after the one-minute time limit set out in Article 8.5 of the FIG 2024 Technical Regulations had expired and is deemed to be without effect,” the decision states. “The original score of 13.666 awarded to Ms. Jordan Chiles in the Women’s Floor Exercise Final will be reinstated.”
How did Chiles and USA Gymnastics react?
In her Instagram story, the Olympic gymnast posted a series of broken heart emojis and said she would be “removing myself from social media for my mental health.”
USA Gymnastics, in a joint statement with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said Chiles has been the subject of “constant, completely unfounded and extremely hurtful attacks on social media” since winning her medal.
“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.”
What did the Romanian team say?
In response, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Tuesday that he would not attend the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics in protest.
“I have decided not to attend the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics, following the scandalous situation in gymnastics, where our athletes were treated in an absolutely dishonourable manner,” Ciolacu wrote on Facebook. “Removing a medal won for honest work on the basis of an appeal… is totally unacceptable!”
He said the gymnasts will always be honored as medalists, writing: “You have with you an entire nation for whom your work and your tears are more precious than any medal, no matter what precious metal they come from.”
Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci also reacted, writing in frustration in a message on X: “I can’t believe we are playing with athletes with mental health and emotions like this.”
The Romanian appeal was sent Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Romanian Olympic Committee told NBC Chicago’s Alex Maragos, who is covering the 2024 Olympics from Paris.
