Chiles on losing medal: ‘This decision feels unfair’
It was just four seconds and one-tenth of a point, but it was enough to strip Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal, a decision that left her speechless.
“I am at a loss for words,” Chiles said Thursday on X. “This decision feels unfair and is a huge blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has supported my journey.”
Chiles’ post on X marks the first time the American gymnast has directly shared her thoughts on the controversy surrounding her bronze medal in the women’s individual floor final at the Paris Olympics. She previously posted twice in the days following the International Olympic Committee’s decision to re-award the bronze, once with four broken-heart emojis and another that read, “I’m taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”
A week later, Chiles wrote that she “now faces one of the most challenging moments of my career. … I will meet this challenge as I have met other challenges – and I will do everything in my power to ensure that justice is done.”
—Jordan Chiles (@ChilesJordan) August 15, 2024
The controversy arose during the women’s floor final at the Bercy Arena in Paris on August 5. Chiles, the last of nine gymnasts to perform, opened with a score of 13.666. That placed her in fifth place behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade (gold medalist), the United States’ Simone Biles (silver medalist), and Romania’s Ana Bărbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who each scored 13.700. (Bărbosu had a higher execution score than Maneca-Voinea, meaning the judges felt she performed a cleaner routine.)
After Chiles’ routine, her coach Cecile Landi filed a motion, which the judges accepted, raising Chiles’ score to 13.766, placing her in the bronze medal position. The Romanian Gymnastics Federation filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, challenging the timeliness of Chiles’ motion, which was filed four seconds after the allotted minute. (Gymnasts before Chiles had from the time their score appeared on the board until the next gymnast’s routine began — typically a few minutes — to file a motion. But because Chiles was the last gymnast to perform, the rule gave USA Gymnastics only one minute to file a motion.)
CAS agreed that Chiles’ investigation was brought too late and that Chiles’ original score of 13.666 should be reinstated. However, in the full report released on Thursday, CAS also said that if the court had its way, it would award Chiles, Bărbosu and Maneca-Voinea all the bronze medals, saying the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) had failed to keep track of the timing of the investigation or provide guidelines to ensure the correct protocol was followed.
“Had the Panel been able to apply the principles of fairness, it would certainly have awarded a bronze medal to all three gymnasts, given their performance, good faith and the injustice and distress to which they were subjected, in circumstances where the FIG provided no mechanism or arrangement to implement the one-minute rule,” the court said.
The FIG amended the results to reflect the CAS ruling and gave the IOC the final decision on who would receive the bronze. The IOC said at the time that it would re-award the bronze medal to Bărbosu and that it was in contact with the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee “regarding the return of (Chiles’) bronze medal.”
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CAS officials on Wednesday roundly blamed the FIG for the problems that arose during one of the most dramatic moments of the Paris Games, saying the panel was limited in its assessment, causing heartbreak for the athletes.
CAS denied USA Gymnastics the opportunity to present new evidence, which USA Gymnastics claims proves that the inquiry was filed 47 seconds after Chiles’ score was shown and is therefore a legal inquiry. USA Gymnastics promised to appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, the body that gives CAS its legitimacy for arbitration. Successful appeals to the Swiss tribunal are unusual.
Still, Chiles continues to hope that her bronze will remain bronze. Her bronze.
“I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in power will do the right thing,” Chiles said.
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(Photo: Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
