U.S. artistic gymnast Jordan Chiles has responded with a social media post after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) declared she did not win the bronze for her performance in the gymnastics floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She was then asked to return her bronze medal following an inquiry challenging an initial appeal about her score.
During the finals earlier this week, Chiles initially received a 13.666 score, behind Romania's Ana Bărbosu.
However, the American gymnast was given a 0.1 point boost after her Team USA coach, Cecile Landi, submitted an inquiry challenging her score.
The accepted appeal moved Chiles up to third place, winning her the bronze and knocking Bărbosu and fellow Romanian gymnast Sabrina Voinea into fourth and fifth place respectively.
In response to the decision, the Romanian federation fought Landi's inquiry with their own appeal, according to the Washington Post.
Five days after the competition, the Olympics' Court of Arbitration overturned the initial decision, citing that Landi's appeal came four seconds past the one-minute deadline following the score announcement.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) then demanded the 23-year-old give up her bronze medal.
Their statement obtained by NBC News read in part:
“[T]he IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Bărbosu (Romania)."
“We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal.”
American Olympic viewers were heartbroken over the news.
Following the devastating announcement, Chiles took to her Instagram stories and said she was taking a break from social media for her "mental health."
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Her fans called for justice.
Others continued sending her love and support through the ordeal.
In the wake of the CAS's ruling, Bărbosu penned a message to Chiles and her teammate, saying she understood what they were going through after the medaling controversy.
"Sabrina, Jordan, my thoughts are with you," wrote Bărbosu on Instagram story.
"I know what you are feeling, because I've been through the same. But I know you'll come back stronger."
The 18-year-old three-time Romanian National Championships all-around champion continued:
"I hope from [the] deep of my heart at the next Olympics, all three of us will share [the] same podium. This is my true dream!"
Bărbosu added that the confusion would not have occurred if "the persons in charge had respected the regulation."
"We, athletes are not to be blamed, and the hate directed to us is painful."
"I wanted to end this edition of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in the spirit of Olympism, the true value of the world."
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The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee said they plan to appeal the CAS' decision.
Here's a screenshot of the USOPC statement shared online by USA Today columnist Christine Brennan.
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"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," read the statement.
It continued:
"The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision."
"As a result, we were not properly represented or afforded the opportunity to present our case comprehensively."
USA Gymnastics said they issued "additional evidence" as timestamped proof showing that Landi submitted her inquiry request 47 seconds after Chile's score was announced, within the one-minute deadline.
“The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision,” the statement read, further claiming that USAG “did not have the opportunity to previously submit it.”
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Vulture indicated it was unclear why the timestamped footage wasn't made available earlier and how the tribunal base arrived at their previous ruling.
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