“We’re not looking at your comment” – Gymnastics champion Jordan Chiles’ message to critics online
Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles is one of the most promising American gymnasts. After winning her silver medal at her Olympic debut in Tokyo, she quickly became a staple name in the sport by winning three medals at her first ever World Championships in Liverpool.
Chiles recently spoke to Olympics.com, where she had words for the world. She seemed very confident about her team's rise on the global stage and set the stage for the 2024 Paris Olympics. She also had a strong message for the critics of the American Gymnastics team after:
"when we come back and do something so huge as winning a World Championship, I hope you understand that, we are not looking at your comment, we are not looking at your tweet, we are not looking at any of that because we are just focused on what we know we can do."
Chiles on the critics
Many critics of Team USA took to social media platforms to make their opinions known after USA's early season loss to Brazil. Replying to the critics, Chiles made it clear that the team is unbothered by their comments and criticisms. Instead, they are focused on the work they have to put in and the skills that they possess.
"People can doubt, people can hate, people can say whatever they want, but that does not determine what we are going to do in ourselves. But you guys do you, go out there. If you want to sit on your butt and tweet all you want to tweet, go for it."
In the age of social media, everyone feels obliged to make their opinion known on every single topic and occasion. Continuing her conversation with the Olympic team, she emphasized that team USA is on the horizon to achieve greater heights.
"It's just the beginning for Team USA. We are going to keep going out there, staying strong, striving and thriving for a lot of things that I know we have in us. So it is definitely going to be huge when '24 comes around."
Team USA has a record of winning six consecutive World titles. However, Chiles made it clear that the team's focus was on competing to the best of their abilities and that the record was not a priority.
"I don't think that was even in our heads, going into it. We kind of just wanted to stay focused and be strong as a team no matter what happened. Yes, we had some mishaps here and there, but at the end I felt like it was our party time ... I told the girls, 'This is a USA party, lets go out there and have fun, and no matter what happens, we are still team USA.' And they put that in their mindset and that's what we did."
Chiles' gold medal at the World Championships came on her fourth attempt at getting into the US gymnastics team.
"I definitely couldn't be more proud of myself ... Fourth time's the charm for me and being able to come home with medals is definitely a cherry on top."