PARIS — Jordan Chiles might have to return the bronze medal she won in the floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Saturday that the judging panel at the women’s floor exercise final improperly granted an inquiry that increased Chiles’ score and moved her into bronze medal position. The Swiss-based court found that Chiles’ appeal was submitted past the one-minute deadline for such requests and therefore should not have been granted.
As a result, CAS said, the American gymnast should have received a score of 13.666 in the event – which would’ve placed her fifth, just shy of the Olympic podium.
The International Gymnastics Federation, which governs the sport, confirmed in a statement later Saturday that Chiles’ score had been reinstated and that Romania’s Ana Barbosu, who scored a 13.7, has been moved back into third place.
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It remains unclear whether all of this means Chiles, 23, now must give back her bronze medal. A spokesperson for the FIG said the reallocation of medals is the responsibility of the International Olympic Committee. The IOC’s press office has not replied to multiple messages seeking comment and clarity on the situation.
‘All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?’ Chiles’ teammate Sunisa Lee wrote on Instagram. ‘Completely unacceptable. This is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan.’
Simone Biles, who trains with Chiles at World Champions Centre, added: ‘Sending you so much love Jordan! Keep your chin up Olympic champ! We love you!’
Chiles, 23, said immediately after the event that she did not know that her coaches, Cecile and Laurent Landi, had submitted an appeal on her behalf, but she has been the target of harsh messages on social media alleging she ‘stole’ the bronze from Ana Barbosu of Romania.
Chiles appeared to reference either the pending CAS case or the criticism she’s received by posting emojis of broken hearts on her Instagram story.
‘I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you,’ she wrote in a second message later Saturday.
USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a joint statement that they were ‘devastated’ by Saturday’s ruling, arguing that the inquiry into Chiles’ score was ‘filed in good faith and … in accordance with FIG rules.’
‘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,’ the two governing bodies said in their statement.
‘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.’
The news comes less than a week after what ended up being a dramatic final day of Olympic gymnastics competition.
In the last routine of the last event, Chiles appeared to finish fractions of a point behind Barbosu and another Romanian gymnast, Sabrina Voinea; They had scored 13.700. But then, in what Chiles’ coaches later admitted was a metaphorical hail mary, the U.S. submitted what’s officially known as an inquiry with the judging panel, essentially asking them to take a second look at a deduction they had levied against Chiles.
After reviewing the element in question − a split leap that is called a tour de jeté full − the judges walked back the deduction and increased Chiles’ score by one-tenth of a point, which boosted her to bronze.
‘I was not confident, but what do you have to lose?’ Laurent Landi later said of the inquiry. ‘She was out of the podium already, so even if they dropped the score, it couldn’t have been worse, you know? We tried.’
‘I was at the same angle as the judge and I felt (her tour de jeté full) was way better than all the other meets than she’s done, so what the heck? We may as well try.’
The last-minute adjustment resulted in a heartbreaking moment for Barbosu, who had gone up to the floor with a Romanian flag believing she had won bronze. When Chiles’ inquiry was announced as having been successful, the 18-year-old Romanian dropped the flag and left the podium.
In the days that followed, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said he would not attend the closing ceremony of the Paris Games because of the judging decision, while former Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci also criticized the judges’ handling of the inquiry.
‘I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this,’ Comaneci wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation later filed multiple appeals to CAS, challenging the outcome of the event. One of the appeals involved the inquiry submitted on Chiles’ behalf, which the Romanian federation claimed was filed exactly four seconds past the 60-second deadline. The other appeal sought the reversal of a deduction levied against Voinea for stepping out of bounds.
CAS granted its first appeal but denied the second, while also punting any decisions about the final order of finish to the FIG. The FIG then ruled on the order of finish but pointed to the IOC when asked about Chiles’ medal.
It is immediately unclear what recourse USA Gymnastics or the USOPC might have moving forward, though CAS decisions are usually only appealable to the Swiss Federal Tribunal − which only reconsiders them on limited, and largely procedural, grounds.
Chiles got emotional when receiving the medal and talked about being immensely proud to have made an individual podium at the Paris Games. After helping lead the U.S. to team silver at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she once again played a significant role in the team final this year, where the Americans won gold.
‘I’m on cloud nine,’ she told reporters after the floor exercise final. ‘This is my first-ever (Olympic) individual event (apparatus) final, at my second Olympics. I have no words.’
Chiles also finished fourth in all-around qualifying but was excluded from the final because of a rule in gymnastics that limits the field to only two gymnasts per country. Even though she had finished fourth, she finished third among American gymnasts in the all-around behind Biles, who went on to win gold, and Lee, who took bronze.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.
