It was only 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 have no words,” Chiles said on X on Thursday. “This decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey.”
Chiles’ post on X is the first time the American gymnast shared her thoughts directly about 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 reallocate the bronze, once with four broken heart emojis and another that read, “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you.”
A week later, Chiles wrote she is “now confronted with one of the most challenging moments of my career. … I will approach this challenge as I have others — and will make every effort to ensure that justice is done.”
— Jordan Chiles (@ChilesJordan) August 15, 2024
The controversy stems from the women’s gymnastics floor final inside Paris’ Bercy Arena on Aug. 5. Chiles, the last of the nine gymnasts to perform, received an initial score of 13.666, placing her fifth behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade (gold medalist), America’s Simone Biles (silver medalist) and Romania’s Ana Bărbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who each scored a 13.700. (Bărbosu was ahead of Maneca-Voinea for having a higher execution score, meaning the judges thought she hit a cleaner routine.)
Following Chiles’ routine, her coach Cecile Landi submitted an inquiry, which the judges accepted and thus raised Chiles’ score to 13.766, bumping her into the bronze position. The Romanian Gymnastics Federation filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport challenging the timeliness of Chiles’ inquiry, saying it was submitted four seconds after the allotted one-minute mark.
CAS agreed that Chiles’ inquiry was raised late and that Chiles’ initial score of 13.666 should be reinstated. However, in its full report released Thursday, CAS also said it would grant Chiles, Bărbosu and Maneca-Voinea all bronze medals if it were up to the court, as it said the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) did not track the timing of the inquiry or have any guidelines in place to assure proper protocol was followed.
“If the Panel had been in a position to apply equitable principles, it would surely have attributed a bronze medal to all three gymnasts in view of their performance, good faith and the injustice and pain to which they have been subjected,” the court said.
The FIG altered the results to reflect the CAS ruling and gave the IOC the final call on who would be awarded the bronze. The IOC then said it would reallocate the bronze medal to Bărbosu and that it was in contact with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee “regarding the return of (Chiles’) bronze medal.”
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The details from CAS on Wednesday squarely blamed FIG for the problems that arose during one of the most dramatic moments of the Paris Games. The panel said it was limited in its review, leading to heartbreak for the athletes.
CAS denied USA Gymnastics the chance to give new evidence, which USA Gymnastics said proves the inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after Chiles’ score was shown and thus is a legal inquiry. USA Gymnastics promised yet another appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, the body that gives CAS its legitimacy for arbitrations. Successful appeals to the Swiss tribunal are uncommon.
Still, Chiles is holding out hope that her bronze stays just that. Her bronze.
“I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in control will do the right thing,” Chiles said.
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(Photo: Naomi Baker / Getty Images)