American gymnast Jordan Chiles was stripped of her bronze medal due to an administrative matter that left her and many others in shock. Chiles took to social media platform, X, to voice her disappointment over the International Olympic Committee’s decision to reallocate her medal following a controversial decision in the women’s individual floor final at the Paris Olympics. Expressing severe distress, she decided to retreat from social media for her mental well-being, marking this event as one of the toughest moments in her gymnastics career.
The incident stemmed from the women’s gymnastics floor final on August 5th. During the final, Chiles received an initial score of 13.666, placing her fifth. Following her performance, Chiles’s coach, Cecile Landi submitted an inquiry which was approved by the judges, increasing her score to 13.766 and earning her a bronze medal. However, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation disputed this, submitting an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) claiming that Chiles’s inquiry was filed four seconds too late.
The CAS sided with the Romanian Gymnastics Federation that the inquiry was late and, as such, Chiles’ initial score of 13.666 should be reinstated. In the full report provided by the CAS, it was mentioned that if the panel could exercise equitable principles, it would award bronze medals to all three gymnasts as the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) did not provide any mechanism or procedure to implement the one-minute rule.
Despite the CAS’s blame towards FIG, the IOC decided to reallocate the bronze medal to Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu. The IOC also contacted the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee regarding the return of Chiles’s medal. The CAS had reportedly denied USA Gymnastics the chance to provide new evidence, which the federation insists shows their inquiry was legally in time.
USA Gymnastics, undeterred, plans to launch a further appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, despite the rarity of successful appeals. Meanwhile, Chiles, like many others, remains hopeful for justice. She stated her belief that the people in control will ultimately make the right decision.
