Jordan Chiles Won’t keep bronze medal after latest ruling
On Monday, USA Gymnastics announced that their request to have gymnast Jordan Chiles‘ bronze medal from the floor exercise restored was denied.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport notified the federation in a social media statement that the rules “do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented.”
“We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just score, placement and medal award for Jordan,” said USA Gymnastics.
The story began a little over a week ago, during the floor exercise competition, when Chiles’ trainers made a last-minute question that set off the events that have transpired in the days after.
How the Jordan Chiles dispute got started
Chiles had a score of 13.666 for the final floor exercise routine, which included a one-tenth of a point punishment for an incorrect split leap called a tour jete full. With that result, she was ranked fifth, behind Romanian gymnast Sabrina Maneca-Voinea and Ana Barbosu. Their respective scores were 13.700.
Cecile Landi, Chiles’ coach, then formally appealed that particular deduction, a move she subsequently admitted was a bit of a Hail Mary, and the judges agreed. As a result, Chiles’ score was raised to 13.766, placing her third overall and ahead of the two Romanian competitors, one of whom had already ascended the podium to celebrate with a flag.
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation filed a complaint with CAS, arguing that Landi had submitted the scoring appeal, or inquiry, four seconds beyond the one-minute window within which she was allowed to do so. The federation thought that the last-minute reversal was unjust. The Romanian federation has not responded to a request for comment and has not stated how it discovered that Landi was four seconds late. (It also submitted a different appeal on Maneca-Voinea’s behalf, arguing that she shouldn’t have been punished for going outside the line.)
It wasn’t until Saturday that the Court of Appeals released its decision. This decision set off a chain reaction that resulted in the International Olympic Committee announcing that Barbosu would receive a bronze medal and Chiles would forfeit hers.
Gymnasts’ talent is overshadowed by controversy
Up until now, the majority of Olympic medal reallocations had gone to competitors whose doping had affected their results.
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation’s timeline was essentially refuted by fresh video footage discovered, USA Gymnastics said on Sunday. According to the U.S., as part of its appeal of the decision made by the Swiss-based court, it sent the footage to CAS for consideration.
Naturally, Chiles and Barbosu, the athletes, are caught in the midst of it all.
When the standings were changed immediately following the tournament, Barbosu, then eighteen, lost her mind and, in shock, dropped her Romanian flag to the ground. While Chiles was ecstatic to win her first individual medal, she probably shared some of Barbosu’s feelings when the IOC announced on Sunday that it would be requesting the return of the 23-year-old’s bronze medal.
In actuality, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation had asked CAS to determine that Barbosu, Chiles, and Maneca-Voinea should all take home bronze medals. Rather, it deferred that decision to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), which has subsequently declared that the IOC makes all medal selections. After stating that the medal distribution is based on finish order, the IOC forwarded a reporter’s inquiries to the FIG.
