Team USA’s breakout star Jordan Chiles may be forced to give up the Olympic bronze medal she received on Aug. 5, following a surprising ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Saturday, Aug. 10.
The decision came after protest from Romania, one of the nearly two dozen European teams competing, challenged the appeal that initially secured Chiles’ spot on the podium in the women’s individual floor exercise competition. The podium could have been historic, as it would be the only one to have all women of African descent standing. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil won the gold and Simone Biles claimed the silver after the competition was complete.
Initially, Chiles’ floor routine placed fifth with a score of 13.666. However, her score was upgraded to 13.766 after Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landi, approached the officials regarding a jump that was initially given a lower difficulty score.
Landi argued that the judges failed to recognize Chiles’ execution of a split leap — or a tour jeté full, as it’s known in gymnastics terms — and incorrectly awarded her a 5.800 difficulty score instead of a 5.900. Upon review, the judges agreed with Landi’s assessment and raised Chiles’ score. This adjustment elevated her from fifth to third place, displacing Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, a move that left the Romanian team outraged.
Barbosu and her team were understandably upset about being pushed out of medal contention, and the Romanian Gymnastics Federation swiftly expressed their dissatisfaction with the CAS decision. They then pressed for officials to reconsider, highlighting that Chiles’ appeal was allegedly submitted 4 seconds too late of the 1-minute window allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
At the time, Nadia Comaneci, a Romanian gold medalist tweeted, “I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them #anabarbosu.”
I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them #anabarbosu https://t.co/BX2hipxmM5
— Nadia Comaneci (@nadiacomaneci10) August 5, 2024
Another Romanian gymnast who competed against Chiles also accused the judges of showing favoritis toward her. In an interview following the event, 17-year-old Sabrina Voinea, whose final score was 13.700, said, “Simone Biles is a good athlete but the American in third place, Jordan Chiles, made low landings and even left [the] carpet.”
She went on to say that she also attempted to challenge for her score but it fell on deaf ears. “I was not penalized. I filed appeal and it remained same mark. Chiles kept protesting and changed her mark. I had a much better exercise than her.”
On August 7, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation submitted a formal request to CAS, citing concerns over the inquiry initiated by Chiles’ coaching team.
Aware of the negative impact on Ana Maria Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation aims to correct the mistakes made by the judges and to restore the rights of our athletes,” the federation stated, according to the Daily Mail.
The fallout from the results ignited widespread outrage in Romania, with the Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announcing on Tuesday, August 6, that he would boycott the closing ceremony in protest of what he called a “scandalous situation.”
Ciolacu also promised that Romania would honor Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea as Olympic medalists, including awarding them the corresponding prizes if the governing body does not.
On Aug. 10, the CAS ruling determined that the judging panel made an error by allowing an inquiry that increased Chiles’ score.
With the stripping of the medal pending, USA Gymnastics states as an organization they are “devastated” by the potential ruling in favor of Romania, which could possibly strip Chiles of her medal over the small technicality.
The 23-year-old gymnast has been subjected to relentless cyberbullying, prompting USA Gymnastics to release a statement condemning such attacks.
“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless, and extremely hurtful attacks on social media,” USA Gymastics declared.
Adding, “No athlete should be subject to such treatment. 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.”
We stand by Jordan Chiles always! https://t.co/IdLwXHPtGr
— UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnastics) August 10, 2024
The uncertainty of losing her medal has taken an emotional toll on Chiles and now she has stepped away from social media to focus on her mental health amid the growing controversy.
While the Romanian camp remains focused on their athletes, they have not addressed the wave of online harassment that Chiles has faced since the protest.
Chiles’ older sister, Jazmin, also took to social media to express her frustration over the situation, asking for prayers for Jordan and their family.
“Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well,” Jazmin wrote in her Instagram story. “They have officially, 5 days later, stripped her of one of her medals.”
Jazmin continued, “Not because she didn’t win, not because she was drugged, not because she stepped out of bounds. Not because she wasn’t good enough. But because the judges failed to give her difficulty and forced an inquiry to be made.”
She concluded with a heartfelt message to her sister, “FOUR SECONDS. Her bronze was stripped over 4 seconds of time that would have never needed to happen if the judges did their job. I love you baby sis. And I got you back no matter what.”
Chiles team captain, Simone Biles, stepped in to also show support of her teammate. Upon hearing the news, Biles posted a photo hugging Chiles with the message, “Sending you so much love,. Jordan keep your chin up olympic champ! we love you!”
Biles also reposted a quote from fellow teammate, Sunisa Lee, calling for judges to be held accountable. The quote read,”All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges??Completely unacceptable. this is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan.”
Fans of the gymnast were also appalled.
“Shame on CAS and those hateful people who’ve sent hateful messages. I’m disgusted. I am supporting you Jordan Chiles!” one tweeted.
Another X user wrote, “I wake up from my nap to find that Jordan Chiles is being stripped of her medal, because the inquiry was 4 seconds late? To say I am disgusted is an understatement.”
“Jordan Chiles we love you and you earned that bronze,” one person tweeted. “This is so ridiculous.”
Jordan Chiles we love you and you earned that bronze. This is so ridiculous.
— HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty (@keyon) August 10, 2024
“Taking a bronze medal from jordan chiles for a mistake YOU MADE???!!!!” someone else tweeted.
A third comment wrote, “Adding a medal is one thing, but taking one away is cruel and just plain wrong.”
Chiles has since returned to the United States and keeping a low profile. It remains unclear officials will go forward and if the young gymnast will be required to return her bronze medal.
Chiles has briefly addressed the controversy on her social media. She posted several broken heart emojis on her Instagram story on Saturday afternoon and announced that she would be stepping away from social media for her mental health.
