U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles must return her bronze medal, Olympic officials say
The U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles must return the bronze medal she was awarded in the Olympic floor exercise final, Olympic officials announced Sunday.
2024 Paris Olympics: U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles may have to return Olympic bronze medal after ruling
The decision by Olympic officials followed a Saturday ruling by an independent arbitrator that vacated a last-minute inquiry made by Chiles’ coaches during Monday’s competition. The inquiry had boosted Chiles’ score by a tenth of a point, moving her from fifth to third place.
On Sunday, International Olympic Committee said it would “reallocate” the bronze Ana Barbosu of Romania, who finished in fourth place.
“We are in touch with the NOC [National Olympic Committee] of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal,” the IOC said in a statemen
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said Sunday it would appeal the ruling that has put Chiles’ bronze in question.
“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed,” U.S. Olympic officials said in a statement.
Chiles had performed last in Monday’s final, and her score initially appeared as a 13.666. Barbosu, who scored 13.700, briefly thought she had won bronze and began to celebrate.
With the judges watching, Jordan Chiles competes during the gymnastics women’s floor exercise final during the Paris Olympics last week.
But Chiles’ coaches filed an inquiry over her score, saying that judges had incorrectly valued the difficulty of her routine. Judges at the event upheld the inquiry and granted Chiles an additional tenth of a point, moving her score from to 13.766. That higher score leapfrogged her over Barbosu and a second Romanian gymnast, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.
The next day, Romanian Olympic officials protested the judges’ decision, alleging that Chiles’ coaches had filed their inquiry too late. On Saturday, an independent court agreed and vacated Chiles’ inquiry, officially revising her score back down to 13.666.
Gymnasts competing in the final slot of an event have only one minute to make a score inquiry. Chiles’ inquiry came four seconds too late, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said. After the CAS decision Saturday, the international governing body for gymnastics said it would revise the final rankings of the event, moving Chiles to fifth place and Barbosu to third.
The IOC’s Sunday announcement to “reallocate” the medals was the last step in the proceedings. The authority to award medals lies with Olympic officials alone.
The floor exercise medal ceremony had been one of the most loved moments of this summer’s Olympics. For one, it was the first time that all three medalists in an Olympic gymnastics event were Black. And during the ceremony, Chiles and her U.S. teammate Simone Biles, who won silver, turned to bow to the gold medal winner, Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, in a moment that went viral over its display of sportsmanship.