American gymnast Jordan Chiles is required to give back the bronze medal she won in the Paris Olympics floor exercise after the highest court in sports nullified an on-floor appeal by Chiles’ coach that pushed Chiles to the third spot, confirmed the International Olympic Committee on Sunday.
The IOC declared early Sunday that the bronze from last Monday’s women’s floor final would be reallocated to Romanian Ana Barbosu after the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) stated on Saturday night that they would honor the court’s decision and move Barbosu to third place.
The ruling came within 24 hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport invalidated a scoring appeal by Team USA coach Cecile Landi during the competition that placed Chiles on the podium.
CAS determined on Saturday that Landi’s appeal to increase Chiles’ score by 0.1 was made outside the 1-minute window allowed by the FIG. The ad hoc committee noted that Landi’s inquiry came 1 minute and 4 seconds after Chiles’ original score was posted.
The IOC mentioned in a statement that they will be contacting the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee regarding the return of Chiles’ bronze medal and will collaborate with the Romanian Olympic Committee to arrange a ceremony acknowledging Barbosu.
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Saturday’s CAS decision stated that the original finishing order should be reinstated, with Barbosu in third place, Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea in fourth, and Chiles in fifth. The organization directed the FIG to determine the final rankings “according to the above decision” but 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 decide on the medal reallocation. The IOC confirmed on Sunday that they would respect the decision of the FIG and pursue the return of Chiles’ medal.
The fast change of events adds another layer to the challenging days experienced by all three athletes.
Romanian gymnastics icon and 1976 Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci expressed concern for Barbosu’s mental well-being due to the distressing sequence in which she transitioned from bronze medalist to a fourth-place finisher.
“I can’t believe we toy with athletes’ mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them,” Comaneci wrote on X earlier in the week.
Comaneci also criticized the judges for their scoring of Maneca-Voinea’s routine — the gymnast was penalized 0.1 points for stepping out of bounds, but viral replays showed she narrowly stayed inbounds. Comaneci urged the Romanian Olympic Committee to protest, which they did, but CAS rejected the appeal.
Chiles hinted at the decision in an Instagram story on Saturday, indicating she is devastated and is “taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”
Jazmin Chiles, Jordan’s sister, stated on Instagram that Chiles was stripped of a medal “not because she wasn’t good enough. But because the judges failed to give her difficulty and forced an inquiry to be made.”
U.S. teammates showed support for Chiles, a two-time Olympian.
“Sending you so much love Jordan,” American star Simone Biles posted on Instagram. “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 in a statement on Saturday that they are “devastated” by the ruling.
“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 after finishing with identical scores of 13.700. Barbosu thought she had secured the bronze over Maneca-Voinea through a tiebreaker — a higher execution score — and started celebrating with a Romanian flag.
Chiles was the final athlete to perform and initially received a score of 13.666 placing her fifth, just behind Maneca-Voinea. Landi requested an inquiry when Chiles’ score was announced.
“At this point, we had nothing to lose, so I was like ‘We’re just going to try,'” Landi mentioned 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 granted by the judges, propelling Chiles ahead of Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea.
Barbosu emphasized upon returning to Romania that she has no issue with Chiles.
“I only want for everybody to be fair, we don’t want to start picking on other athletes of any nationality,” Barbosu shared with 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, defended her in a post, expressing she was “tired” of 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 mentioned. “And she’s being called disgusting things.”
The uncertainty also casts a shadow over what was a beautiful moment on the medal podium, where Chiles and Biles knelt to show respect to Andrade after the Brazilian star clinched her fourth medal in Paris.
“It was just the right thing to do,” Biles commented on a moment that quickly gained attention, with even the Louvre suggesting it might be worthy of a place near the Mona Lisa.
This memory now carries a complex and emotional aftermath.
