This was Flavor Flav’s gift to Team USA’s Jordan Chiles after she was stripped of Olympic bronze medal
As American gymnastics tries to make sense of one of its athletes being stripped of her medal, a former hip-hop star has taken matters into his own hands.
It would be fair to say that the circumstances surrounding the stripping of Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal are strange. Nonetheless, it’s encouraging to see that regardless of the outcome of any further arbitration, there are some who view her as an Olympic medalist no matter what.
Flavor Flav had a special gift for Jordan Chiles
By now you likely know that on Sunday, the International Olympic Committee announced its decision to strip American gymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal and award it to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu instead. It was a decision that was understandably met with a great deal of backlash and is one that continues to be disputed by USA Gymnastics. Yet, there are those who have decided that the IOC’s decision means nothing in the face of Chiles’ achievements and so an acknowledgment of her achievement must be presented.
To that end, American rapper Flavor Flav took up the challenge, bestowing a custom-made medal while the controversy surrounding her disputed Olympic bronze medal in the women’s gymnastics floor final in Paris continues. Flavor Flav, whose real name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr. gifted Chiles what appears to be an interesting take on the bronze medal which he unveiled in a video that was posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). Known for wearing oversized clocks on chains, Flav apparently invited Chiles into the fold with a bronze clock necklace that he had created in her honor.
Adorned with bronze rhinestones inside and out and featuring bronze-colored hands set against a numberless face, the timepiece was as dazzling as it was unique. Alongside the video was Flav’s caption in which he made it clear that he’s backing Chiles all the way. “USA gonna Fight the Powers that be,,, in the meantime between time,,, Imma always a man of my word,” he wrote. Chiles’ mom later responded to Flav’s post as any mother would in such a situation. “Thank you. Means the world. She’s not on socials right now as you can imagine. I’ll share it with her.”
Now, if all of this seems a bit confusing, allow us to bring you up to speed. Back on August 5th, Chiles appeared to win the bronze medal in the floor final due to a late protest that was made by her coach, Cecile Landi, about her difficulty score. As a result of Landi’s inquiry, Chiles’ score was raised which resulted in her jumping from fifth to third. Not long after, the Romanian Federation of Gymnastics filed a similar process with the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a direct challenge to Landi’s appeal. What came next was a ruling from the CAS which stated that Landi’s appeal was four seconds too late such that the medal should be awarded to Barbosu. To date, there has been no further word on the situation other than Chiles who saw the first Olympic medal of her career rescinded, announcing that she will be taking a break from social media for mental health reasons. Stay tuned.