American gymnast Jordan Chiles is required to return the bronze medal she earned in the Paris Olympics floor exercise after the sport’s highest court invalidated an on-floor appeal made by Chiles’ coach that boosted her to third place, as confirmed by the International Olympic Committee on Sunday.
The IOC announced on Sunday morning that the bronze medal from last Monday’s women’s floor final would now be given to Romanian Ana Barbosu, following a decision by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) on Saturday night to uphold the court’s ruling and move Barbosu into third place.
This decision was made less than 24 hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) nullified a scoring appeal by Team USA coach Cecile Landi during the competition, which initially placed Chiles on the podium.
CAS determined on Saturday that the appeal made by Landi to increase Chiles’ score by 0.1 was submitted outside the 1-minute window allowed by the FIG. The ad hoc committee stated that Landi’s challenge came 1 minute and 4 seconds after Chiles’ original score was posted.
The IOC stated that it will communicate with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee regarding the return of Chiles’ bronze medal, and will coordinate with the Romanian Olympic Committee to arrange a reallocation ceremony honoring Barbosu.
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CAS indicated on Saturday that the original final standings should be restored, with Barbosu in third place, Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea in fourth, and Chiles in fifth. The organization recommended for the FIG to determine the final rankings “in accordance with the above decision,” and left it to the federation to decide who would receive the medal after gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the U.S.
The FIG mentioned that it was up to the IOC to reallocate the medal. The IOC confirmed on Sunday that it would uphold the FIG’s decision and work to have Chiles’ medal returned.
This quick turn of events adds another layer of complexity to what has already been a challenging few days for all three athletes.
Romanian gymnastics icon and 1976 Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci expressed concern for Barbosu’s mental well-being due to the upsetting circumstances that saw her go from winning bronze to finishing in fourth place.
“I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them,” Comaneci shared earlier in the week.
Comaneci also criticized the judges for how they scored Maneca-Voinea’s routine, as the gymnast was penalized 0.1 points for stepping out of bounds, though video replays indicated she narrowly stayed inbounds. Comaneci urged the Romanian Olympic Committee to file a protest, which they did, but CAS rejected the appeal.
Chiles hinted at the outcome in an Instagram story on Saturday, indicating her heartbreak and decision to step away from social media for the sake of her mental health.
Jazmin Chiles, Jordan’s sister, mentioned on Instagram that Chiles was stripped of a medal “not because she wasn’t good enough, but because the judges failed to acknowledge her difficulty and prompted an inquiry to be made.”
Chiles’ fellow U.S. teammates showed their support for her, with Simone Biles posting on Instagram, “Sending you so much love Jordan. Keep your chin up ‘Olympic champ,’ we love you.”
“All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?” six-time Olympic medalist Sunisa Lee added on Instagram. “Completely unacceptable, this is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan.”
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USA Gymnastics expressed devastation over the ruling in a statement on Saturday.
“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,” the organization stated.
Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea missed out on the medals in the floor final despite finishing with identical scores of 13.700. Barbosu believed she had secured bronze over Maneca-Voinea through a tiebreaker — a higher execution score — and began celebrating with a Romanian flag.
Chiles was the final competitor to perform and initially received a score of 13.666, placing her in fifth position, just behind Maneca-Voinea. Landi requested a review of Chiles’ score when it was announced.
“At this point, we had nothing to lose, so I was like ‘We’re just going to try,'” Landi commented after the awards ceremony. “I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen, but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like ‘What?'”
The appeal was successful, moving Chiles ahead of Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea in the final rankings.
Upon returning to Romania, Barbosu emphasized that she harbored no ill will towards Chiles.
“I only want for everybody to be fair, we don’t want to start picking on other athletes of any nationality,” Barbosu told reporters. “We as athletes don’t deserve something like that, we only want to perform as best as we can and to be rewarded based on our performance. The problems lie with the judges, with their calculations and decisions.”
Chiles’ mother, Gina Chiles, addressed critics in a post, expressing her exhaustion with the derogatory remarks directed at Jordan.
“My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched,” Gina Chiles wrote. “And she’s being called disgusting things.”
The uncertainty also casts a shadow over what was initially a touching moment on the medal podium, where Chiles and Biles knelt to honor Andrade after the Brazilian star clinched her fourth medal in Paris.
“It was just the right thing to do,” Biles remarked about a moment that quickly went viral, with even the Louvre suggesting it might be deserving of a place near the Mona Lisa.
This memory now carries a complex and emotional aftermath.
