American gymnast Jordan Chiles must return the bronze medal she won on the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics. The news came after the highest court in sports overturned an appeal by Chiles’ coach on the floor exercise, which saw the gymnast vault to third place.
The IOC announced Sunday morning that it would award the bronze medal from Monday’s women’s floor final to Romania’s Ana Barbosu. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) had indicated Saturday night that it would respect the court’s decision and promote Barbosu to third place.
The decision came less than 24 hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport invalidated an appeal by U.S. team coach Cecile Landi during the match in which Chiles finished on the podium.
The CAS ruled on Saturday that Landi’s request to add 0.1 to Chiles’ score fell four seconds outside the one-minute time allowed by the FIG.
The IOC said in a statement that it will contact the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committees about returning Chiles’ bronze and will work with the Romanian Olympic Committee to discuss a rescheduling of the ceremony for Barbosu.
CAS said on Saturday that the original order of finishers should be restored, with Barbosu third, Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth. The organization added that the FIG should determine the final ranking “in accordance with the above decision,” but left it up to the federation to decide who would get the bronze medal. The Romanian Gymnastics Federation has requested that three bronze medals be awarded.
The FIG said it was the IOC’s decision whether to re-award the medal. The IOC confirmed Sunday that it would respect the FIG’s decision and seek to have Chiles’ medal returned.
The rapid turn of events adds an extra layer to what has been a difficult few days for all three athletes. Romanian gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci said she feared for Barbosu’s mental health over the saga. “I can’t believe we are playing with athletes’ mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them,” Comaneci posted on X earlier this week.
Chiles hinted at the decision in an Instagram Story on Saturday, saying she was “taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”
Chiles’ U.S. teammates expressed their support on Instagram. “Sending you lots of love Jordan,” Simone Biles posted on Instagram. “Keep your chin up ‘Olympic Champion’ we love you.” Sunisa Lee, meanwhile, criticized the judges for their role in the situation. “All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?” Lee wrote. “Totally unacceptable, this is awful and I’m devastated for Jordan.”
USA Gymnastics said in a statement Saturday that it was “devastated” by the ruling. “The investigation into the difficulty of Jordan Chiles’ floor routine was submitted in good faith and, we believe, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring,” the organization wrote.
Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea were left out of the medals in the floor final after finishing with a score of 13.700. Barbosu believed she had won bronze from Maneca-Voinea via a tiebreaker – a higher execution score – and celebrated with a Romanian flag. Chiles was the last athlete to compete and was initially given a score of 13.666, placing her fifth behind Maneca-Voinea. Landi called for an investigation into Chiles’ score to be announced.
“At that point, we had nothing to lose, so I thought, ‘We’re just going to give it a shot,'” Landi said after the awards ceremony. “I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen, but when I heard her scream, I turned around and thought, ‘What?'” The judges granted the appeal, leaving Chiles Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea behind.
Barbosu made it clear after returning home to Romania that she had no problem with Chiles. “I just want everyone to be fair, we don’t want to start singling out other athletes of any nationality,” Barbosu told reporters. “We as athletes don’t deserve something like that, we just want to perform as well as we can and be rewarded based on our performance. The problems are with the jury, with their calculations and decisions.”
Chiles’ mother, Gina, lashed out at critics in a post, writing that she was “tired” of the derogatory comments her daughter has received. “My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and an unmatched level of sportsmanship,” Gina Chiles posted. “And she’s being called disgusting things.”
The uncertainty also colored the moving moment on the podium, when Chiles and Biles knelt in honor of Rebeca Andrade after the Brazilian star won her fourth medal in Paris.
“It was just the right thing to do,” Biles said of the moment. That memory now carries a complicated and emotional afterscript.