The 2024 Paris Olympics concluded this past Sunday, August 11, but there is still controversy in the air when it comes to gymnast Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal win. The 23-year-old, who is Black and Latina, represented the United States in their gymnastics team alongside Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Sunisa Lee, and Hezly Rivera. Chiles competed in the women’s individual floor exercise final on Monday, August 5 where she went on to place in third, granting her the bronze medal. Her win led to a historic podium, for the first time all three places were made up of Black women with Chiles joined by fellow Team USA Olympian Simone Biles and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade. The images of the three women holding hands and Biles and Chiles bowing down to Andrade, a move Chiles suggested, quickly went viral. A moment that only happened because of the readjusted score which has now reportedly been reinstated.
The UCLA alumna originally placed fifth overall with a 13.666 score for her floor routine, with Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea tied ahead of her with a 13.700 score each. The U.S. coach, Cecil Landi, submitted an appeal citing that she should have been given credit with higher difficulty for a move in which she performed a split in the air while turning 540 degrees. At the end of the event, the judges approved the appeal and granted Chiles with full credit, bumping her to 13.766 and therefore, placing her in the bronze medal position. However, her placement was subsequently challenged by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and approved.
Following the announcement, Chiles took to Instagram posting a Story with broken heart emojis then sharing that she’d be taking a break from social media writing, “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you.”
The Romanian gymnasts and federation filed their challenge with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. They argued that the appeal submitted was 4 seconds late, given that there is a 1-minute deadline given to coaches to make a verbal inquiry after their athlete’s score is shown. In their argument, they state that Chiles’ original score should be upheld. Both parties argued their cases before a panel on August 10, which led to CAS upholding Romania’s challenge and Chiles losing her medal.
International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) then confirmed it would reinstate Chiles’ initial score and that she would be moved to fifth. They then turned to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on whether she would have to return the bronze medal which they then made official on Sunday.
“We are in touch with the (National Olympic Committee) of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with (the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee) regarding the return of the bronze medal,” the IOC said in a statement.
Following the ruling USA Gymnastics announced they had submitted additional evidence and a formal letter appealing to CAS. In a statement, they said, “Landi first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was originally posted.” On Monday, August 12, USA Gymnastics announced their appeal had been denied on Instagram:
“USA Gymnastics was notified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday that their rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented. We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan.”
Though Chiles has remained quiet since then, her family has taken to social media in her defense. Her mother, Gina Chiles, responded on X after she shared that Jordan was receiving racist comments:
“The racist disgusting comments are still happening in 2024. I’m tired of people who say it no longer exists. My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched…and she’s being called disgusting things,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, her sister Jazmin Chiles shared on Instagram Stories that Jordan had been stripped of the medal, adding: “Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well.”
“They have officially, five days later, stripped her of one of her medals. Not because she didn’t win, not because she was drugged, not because she stepped out of bounds. Not because she wasn’t good enough. But because the judges failed to give her difficulty and forced an inquiry to be made.”
In the court of public opinion, many have voiced their support for Jordan including her teammate, who instead questioned the judges:
“All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?” Lee wrote on Instagram. “Completely unacceptable. This is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan.”