Jordan Chiles' Olympic Bronze Medal in Jeopardy After Floor Exercise Score Reversed-InfoExpress
Jordan Chiles may lose the bronze medal she was awarded at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the only individual Olympic medal she has ever received.
On Aug. 10, the Court of Arbitration for Sport reversed an inquiry from Team USA's coach that had led to the score for the gymnast's Beyoncé-inspired floor exercise in the women's individual final at the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics to be raised from 13.666 to 13.766, which had boosted her from fifth to third place to win the bronze.
The Swiss-based court ruled that the inquiry should not have been granted because it was submitted four seconds past a one-minute deadline and said Chiles' initial lower score will be reinstated.
It made its ruling in response to an appeal by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and gymnasts Ana Maria Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who placed fourth and fifth in the floor exercise final, respectively. What comes next is up to the International Gymnastics Federation to decide.
Jordan, who placed third in the Aug. 5 competition behind U.S. teammate Simone Biles and gold medalist Rebeca Andrade from Brazil, shared a series of broken heart emojis on her Instagram Stories after the court released its ruling.
The 23-year-old, who has amid the controversy received a slew of hateful comments online from many users supporting the Romanian competitors, added, "I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you."
But Jordan might keep her medal as the controversy could end with a three-way tie for bronze.
In addition to their request for Team USA's inquiry to be dismissed as "untimely," the Romanian team asked that a 0.1-point execution penalty given to Maneca-Voinea be removed to incrase her score. The court rejected this.
The Romanian team also asked that the final ranking of their finalists and Chiles be adjusted "by placing all three athletes in 3rd position and the allocation of medals to all three athletes," the court said in a press release obtained by E! News.
The court said the International Gymnastics Federation "shall determine the ranking of the final of the women's floor exercise and assign the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision."
In a joint statement, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee said they were "devastated" by the court's ruling.
"The inquiry into the difficulty value of Jordan Chiles' floor exercise routine was filed in good faith," they wrote in an Instagram post, "and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring."
Jordan, who helped Team USA win gold medals in the women's gymnastics team finals at the Paris Olympics and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, has also received supportive messages on social media from her sister Jazmin Chiles and teammate Suni Lee.
Meanwhile, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation applauded the court's ruling on Instagram and legendary retired Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci expressed her support for the idea of a tie for third place.
"That will be the perfect decision," the five-time Olympic gold medalist wrote on her Instagram Stories. "3 bronze medals for the ladies."
Look back at some of the most emotional moments from the 2024 Paris Olympics...
Team USA's Tara Davis-Woodhall embraces her husband and Paralympic athlete Hunter Woodhall after winning the women's long jump final.
Joan Antoni Moreno and Diego Dominguez of Team Spain yell in celebration after the men's canoe double 500m final.
Spain's Maria Perez and Alvaro Martin pop champagne to celebrate their gold medals.
Kelland O'Brien of Team Australia is emotional after his team, also including Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn, won gold. The Austalian cyclists set a new world record with 3:40.730.
TEAM USA's Gabby Thomas snaps a selfie with her partner Spencer McManes after winning gold in the women's 200m final.
Cole Hocker of Team USA celebrates after winning the gold for the men's 1500m. Hocker won by .14 seconds.
Swedish athlete Armand Duplantis celebrates after setting a new world record in the men's pole vault.
An Se-young of Korea celebrates after defeating He Bingjiao of China 2-0 in their match.
Johanne Defay hugs Simon Paillard, her husband and coach, after winning bronze for France.
Simone Biles hugs an emotional Jordan Chiles after winning bronze for the women's floor routine final, marking Chiles' first individual Olympic medal.
Britain's Bryony Page is ecsatic after winning gold for the women's trampoline final in gymnastics.
Team Czechia's Michal Cupr, Jiri Beran, Jakub Jurka, Martin Rubes celebrate after defeating France for the men's bronze medal.
USA gymnast Simone Biles beams after winning gold in the women's all-around final, sporting her "GOAT" necklace.
Great Britain's Andy Murray—who announced his retirement before the Paris Games—tearfully bids farewell to the crowd after being eliminated alongside Dan Evans in the men's doubles.
Tomokazu Harimoto of Team Japan lets off some steam during his match against China's Fan Zhendong.
Men's 200m backstroke silver medalist Apostolos Christou of Greece gets emotional while standing on the podium.
Spanish tennis Carlos Alcaraz lets out a victorious scream after defeating Tommy Paul of Team USA in men's single.
Great Britain's bronze medalists Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson share a raw moment after the women's synchronized 10m platform diving final.
Korbin Albert gets emotional after scoring a goal in the women's soccer game.
Team Sweden's Sarah Sjoestroem celebrates her gold medal in the Women's 100m Freestyle Final.
Team USA's Katie Ledecky reacts to winning gold in the Women's 1500m Freestyle Final.
French swimmer Anastasiia Kirpichnikova cries tears of joy after seeing her silver medal-winning time in women's 1500m freestyle event.
Serbia's Nemanja Majdov (L) and Greece's Theodoros Tselidis (R) share a moment after their round in the men's 90kg round of 16 in judo. Tselildis, who beat Majdov, later won the bronze medal.
Manon Apithy-Brunet (L) kisses her husband France's Bolade Apithy after his team beat Egypt.
Gold medalist Alex Yee of Team Great Britain and silver medalist Hayden Wilde of Team New Zealand share a subtle celebratory moment after crossing the finish line.
Team New Zealand leaps for joy after beating Canada in the Women's Rugby Sevens Gold medal match.
Agustina Gorzelany of Team Argentina celebrates her team's first goal in a match against Spain. Argentina ended up winning the match 2-1.
Team Guatemala's Adriana Ruano Oliva gets emotional after realizing she's won the gold medal—her country's very first—in the shooting trap women's final.
Andy Murray and Dan Evans of Great Britain embrace in celebration after besting Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen of Team Belgium in Men's Doubles second round match.
Great Britain's Tom Dean celebrates, along with fellow teammates, after his win in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay.
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