Why could Jordan Chiles be stripped of her bronze medal? Olympic gymnastics controversy explained
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled in favour of an appeal by Romania’s Ana Barbosu.
American gymnast Jordan Chiles is poised to lose her bronze medal in the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise competition after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favour of an appeal by Romania’s Ana Maria Barbosu, who will move up to third place, it said on Saturday.
Barbosu and her team had appealed to CAS that an inquiry filed over the results in that event was done so past the one-minute deadline and that Chiles should not be awarded the score of 13.766 that lifted her to third place behind winner Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medallist Simone Biles of the United States.
Chiles had initially been awarded a score of 13.666, while Barbosu scored 13.700.
CAS rules
“The inquiry submitted on behalf of Ms Jordan Chiles in the final of the women’s floor exercise was raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline,” CAS said.
“The initial score of 13.666 given to Ms Jordan Chiles in the final of the women’s floor exercise shall be reinstated.”
CAS also ordered the international gymnastics federation (FIG) to determine the ranking of the final and “assign the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision.”
Ana Bărbosu regains her Olympic bronze medal! 🇷🇴🥉
— Daily Romania (@daily_romania) August 10, 2024
The appeal filed by @ChilesJordan 🇺🇸 was made beyond the 1-minute deadline and is therefore invalid
Chiles will lose her bronze medal and move to 5th place, right after Sabrina Voinea pic.twitter.com/ynfJ2nUeU1
The decision does not affect either Andrade or Biles, who scored 14.166 and 14.133 respectively.
In a joint statement U.S. Gymnastics and the U.S Olympic and Paralympic Committee said they were devastated by the decision.
“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,” they said.
It also said Chiles had received online abuse during her appeal and condemned those who engaged in it.
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“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.”