American gymnast Jordan Chiles must return bronze medal, Olympic officials say

Jordan Chiles of the United States holds up her medals after the women's artistic gymnastics individual apparatus final at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France.

Charlie Riedel / AP

American gymnast Jordan Chiles must return the bronze medal she won in the Olympic floor exercise final, Olympic officials announced Sunday.

The decision by Olympic officials follows one made Saturday by an independent arbitrator who overturned a last-minute investigation by Chiles' coaches during Monday's competition. The investigation had improved Chiles' score by a tenth of a point, moving her from fifth to third place.

The International Olympic Committee announced on Sunday that it would “reassign” the bronze medal of Ana Barbosu of Romania, who finished in fourth place.

“We are in contact with the NOC [National Olympic Committee] from Romania to discuss the re-awarding ceremony and with the USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal,” the IOC said in a statement.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced Sunday that it would appeal the decision that calls into question Chiles' bronze medal.

“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and that there were critical errors in the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that must be corrected,” U.S. Olympic officials said in a statement.

As judges watch, Jordan Chiles competes in the women's gymnastics floor final at the Paris Olympics last week.

Loic Venance / AFP via Getty Images

Chiles had finished last in Monday's final, and her initial score was 13.666. Barbosu, who scored 13.700, thought for a moment she had won bronze and began celebrating.

But Chiles' coaches filed a request for an investigation into her score, claiming that the judges had misjudged the difficulty of her routine. Judges at the event upheld the request and awarded Chiles an extra tenth of a point, raising her score to 13.766 from 13.766. The higher score put her ahead of Barbosu and a second Romanian gymnast, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.

The next day, Romanian Olympic officials protested the judges' decision, saying Chiles' coaches had filed their request too late. On Saturday, an independent tribunal ruled in Chiles' favor and overturned the request for an investigation, officially revising his score down to 13.666.

Gymnasts competing in the final stretch of an event have just one minute to make a scoring request. Chiles' request came four seconds too late, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said. After the CAS decision Saturday, gymnastics' international governing body announced it would revise the final ranking of the event, moving Chiles to fifth and Barbosu to third.

Related: Olympic Champion Gymnasts Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles to Return to School

The IOC's announcement on Sunday of the “reallocation” of medals was the final step in the process. The allocation of medals is the sole responsibility of Olympic officials.

The floor exercise medal ceremony was one of the most beloved moments of this summer's Olympics. It marked the first time that all three medalists in an Olympic gymnastics event were black. And during the ceremony, Chiles and her American teammate Simone Biles, who won silver, turned to greet the gold medalist, Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, in a moment that went viral for its sportsmanship.

USA Gymnastics and the USOPC said Saturday they were “devastated” by the decision. “The inquiry into the difficulty rating of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believe, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring,” the groups said in a statement.

“Throughout the appeals process, Jordan has been subjected to constant, completely unfounded and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subjected to such treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who engage in, support or incite them,” the statement continued. “We commend Jordan for her integrity, both on and off the field of competition, and we continue to support her.”

The situation drew criticism of gymnastics officials and judges at Monday's event.

Related: Simone Biles and Team USA Reclaim Olympic Gold in Women's All-Around Gymnastics Final

In addition to Chiles’ incorrect difficulty score (which was corrected with her claim, then rescinded Saturday) and the acceptance of a claim filed too late, people online pointed out a third potential error. Maneca-Voinea finished fifth after judges deducted 0.1 from her score as a penalty for going out of bounds during her routine. But the video replay appeared to show that she had stayed in bounds. Without the penalty, she would have scored 13.800, which would have earned her the bronze medal ahead of Chiles and Barbosu.

In addition to protesting Chiles' investigation, Romanian officials asked the arbitration court to reevaluate Maneca-Voinea's routine. And finally, Romania requested that all three gymnasts Barbosu, Maneca-Voinea and Chiles be ranked together in third place in order to each receive a bronze medal.

Silver medalist Simone Biles (left) and bronze medalist Jordan Chiles (right) of Team USA celebrate after competing in the floor exercise final last week. Chiles had just learned she had been moved from fifth to third place following a score inquiry. An independent referee determined the inquiry was four seconds too late.

Naomi Baker / Getty Images

The court dismissed both claims.

“All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges? Completely unacceptable,” wrote American gymnast Suni Lee on Instagram. “This is horrible and I feel disgusted for Jordan.”

The Olympics have a long tradition of returning medals. But the vast majority of them are related to doping or violations of Olympic eligibility rules.

In two other cases involving questions about scores, the IOC allowed the competitors to share the disputed medal.

In 2002, controversy erupted over the judging of pairs in figure skating. The gold medal was awarded to Russia, at the expense of a Canadian team that appeared to have made fewer errors. The judges at the competition were closely scrutinized. After a week of controversy, the IOC awarded the gold medal to both teams.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Swiss skier Fanny Smith appeared to have finished third in the women's ski cross final. But she was penalized for colliding with Germany's Daniela Maier just before the finish line. Maier, who appeared to have finished fourth, was relegated to third place and awarded bronze.

Nine days later, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, known as FIS, ruled that Smith had been improperly penalized and revised the rankings, dropping her to third, raising similar questions about Maier's bronze.

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