Romania’s petition could result in the withdrawal of Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal, devastating social media.
Jordan Chiles
The bronze medal that American gymnast Jordan Chiles earned in the women’s floor exercise final could be taken away from her.
As per the ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Chiles’ score was raised by the judging panel during the event, propelling her to the bronze medal position ahead of Ana Barbosu of Romania. The appeal should not have been granted, the Switzerland-based court decided, because it was filed after the one-minute time for inquiries.
When Barbosu first won the bronze medal on the floor competition on Monday, she started to celebrate on the mat. After judges heard an appeal from American coaches regarding Chiles’ score, Chiles was awarded a 0.1-point bonus, moving him up to third place ahead of Barbosu.
However, the Court of Arbitration has recently declared that Chiles ought to have placed fifth in the competition with a score of 13.666, barely missing the Olympic podium.
The decision “devastated” USA Gymnastics and USOPCE, according to a statement they released.
“Jordan has been the target of persistent, completely unfounded, and incredibly painful insults on social media throughout the appeal process. Such treatment ought not to be meted out to any athlete. We denounce the attacks and those who participate in, encourage, or incite them. We continue to stand by and support Jordan, and we praise her for acting honorably both on and off the competition stage.”
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) will choose who will receive the medal, according to the CAS.
Later on Saturday, the FIG said that Barbosa had returned to third position with a score of 13.766, while Chile’s initial score of 13.666 had been reinstated, moving her back down to fifth place. The announcement was vague about Chiles’ medal’s status.
In reaction to the decision, Chiles shared a number of heartfelt tales on Instagram on Saturday. One of them had a string of emoticons representing shattered hearts, while another contained her declaration that she would be quitting social media.
Suni Lee, Chiles’ colleague, attacked the judges in her own Instagram Stories on Saturday for their incorrect ruling.
“What about the judges with all this hype about the athlete? This is terrible, totally unacceptable, and I feel so bad for Jordan,” Lee added. “You have all of my flowers, I’ll always have your back, and you’ll be an Olympic champion forever, Joe.
Chiles would be just the third gymnast in history to have an Olympic gold taken away from her if it were to happen. The other two were Andreea Răducan of Romania and Dong Fangxiao of China, who both forfeited their Olympic medals in 2000 in Sydney.
The team doctor gave Răducan cold medicine pills, and she tested positive for a banned substance. This resulted in the removal of her individual all-around gold medal. When it was found that Dong was only 14 years old in Sydney—two years too young to compete—China’s team all-around bronze was revoked.
The floor final podium had three Black medalists for the first time in Olympic gymnastics history thanks to Chiles’ bronze.
Chiles was accompanied by her silver-winning American teammate Simone Biles and gold-winning Brazilian Rebecca Andrade. At the platform, a momentous image marked the occasion as Biles, 27, and Chiles, 23, bowed on either side of their Brazilian opponent, Andrade, 25, who was celebrating by raising her fists.
Barbosu, meanwhile, noticed the scoring change on the board while she was clutching a Romanian flag. At that moment, she let go of the flag, put her hands over her face, and turned to go while crying.
Following the initial verdict, there was a pushback. Legendary gymnast Nadia Comaneci denounced the score adjustment on social media, and Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared on Tuesday that he would not attend the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics due to the score alteration.
On Wednesday, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee declared its intention to file an appeal against the ruling.
