Jordan Chiles could be stripped of bronze medal in Olympics controversy
Jordan Chiles’ dramatic bronze medal might have been won in vain.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Saturday that the inquiry that led to Chiles’ score being increased — moving her from fifth to third in the women’s floor final — was improperly granted, as it was submitted past the one-minute deadline for inquiries.
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Ergo, the court said that Chiles, 23, should have received her original 13.666 score and placed fifth.
The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique restored the original order of finish, with Romanian Ana Barbosu in third and Chiles in fifth, on Saturday after the CAS decision.
But it said the decision on medals was up to the International Olympic Committee, leaving open the question of whether Chiles will get to keep her bronze.
CAS said in a statement that the ruling applied to Chiles’ score, but not her final ranking.
“The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique shall determine the ranking of the women’s Floor exercise and assign the medal[s] in accordance with the above decision,” CAS said.
“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise,” USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a joint statement. “The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring.
“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subject to such treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who engage, support or instigate them. We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her.”
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation instigated the CAS ruling by conducting multiple appeals, as its gymnasts — Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea — had been bumped down by Chiles’ score going up.
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Romanian gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci and Marcel Ciolacu, the country’s prime minister, both slammed the decision to give Chiles bronze, with Ciolacu bowing out of attending the closing ceremony and claiming Romanian athletes were treated in an “absolutely dishonorable manner.”
Comaneci, who achieved a perfect 10 at the 1976 Olympics, tweeted, “I can’t believe we play with athletes’ mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them,” following the floor event.
After the event, Chiles said she did not know her coaches had submitted an inquiry on her behalf.
It amounted to a shot in the dark, as they asked the judging panel to look again at a deduction against Chiles’ score.
Upon review, the deduction was walked back, increasing Chiles’ score by one-tenth of a point.
Barbosu, who believed she had won bronze, had gone to the floor with a Romanian flag before the decision was announced.
After Chiles’ deduction was retracted, she dropped the flag and exited the podium.
Chiles won gold as part of the team all-around final in Paris, but this marked her first individual medal at these Olympics.
It’s not clear what the next course of action for USA Gymnastics or the USOPC will be, though Chiles posted broken heart emojis on her Instagram story on Saturday, referencing either the CAS case, the criticism she’s received or both.
