American gymnast Jordan Chiles has been stripped of the bronze medal she won in Monday’s women’s floor final. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) confirmed that Romania’s Ana Barbosu has been upgraded from fourth to third place following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
CAS upheld an appeal by the Romanian Olympic Committee, stating that an inquiry submitted by the US team regarding Chiles’ score was filed outside the one-minute limit for such appeals and should therefore be disregarded.
As a result, Chiles’ original score has been reinstated, placing her in fifth position.
USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee expressed their devastation over the decision and condemned the “consistent, utterly baseless, and extremely hurtful attacks” that Chiles has received on social media during the appeal process.
Chiles, 23, who won gold in the women’s team event, posted four broken heart emojis on her Instagram story and later wrote: “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”
What happened?
Chiles initially scored 13.666 in Monday’s final, placing her in fifth place. Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, who scored 13.7, believed she had won the bronze medal.
However, after an inquiry by Chiles’ coach Cecile Landi regarding her difficulty rating, officials upgraded Chiles’ score to 13.766, moving her into third place.
This adjustment left Barbosu, who had begun celebrating her medal, upset, prompting a protest from the Romanian team.
Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu called it a “scandalous situation” and threatened to boycott the closing ceremony.
The Romanian Olympic Committee successfully appealed to CAS, arguing that the inquiry was “untimely” as it had been submitted four seconds after the one-minute time limit.
On Saturday, CAS reinstated Chiles’ original score of 13.666, a decision later confirmed by FIG.
The International Olympic Committee stated that it would reallocate the bronze medal to Barbosu and is coordinating with the US team for the return of the medal and with the Romanian Olympic Committee regarding the reallocation ceremony.
USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee stated: “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.”
Speaking about the online abuse of Chiles, they added: “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.”
Chiles’ teammate Simone Biles won silver in the event, while Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade took gold.
In an iconic moment of the Games, Biles and Chiles bowed down to Andrade on the podium.
Biles posted her support for Chiles, writing: “Sending you so much love Jordan, Keep your chin up Olympic champ, we love you.”
Fellow US gold medal-winning gymnast Sunisa Lee posted: “All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges? Completely unacceptable, this is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan.”
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