"I got you something that they can't take away from you"- Flavor Flav honors Jordan Chiles with the bronze clock at VMA's after Olympics controversy

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Sep 12, 2024 02:48 GMT

Jordan Chiles was recently seen at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony. The Olympic champion was surprised by Flavor Flav, who was one of the presenters at the ceremony.

The American rapper not only invited her on stage but also praised her efforts at the Paris Olympics. He remarked,

"I know they tried to take your medal away from you, but you know what, I got you something that they can't take away from you."

Flavor Flav pulled out a bronze clock for Jordan Chiles, which left her stunned and evoked loud cheers and applause from the crowd. He made Chiles wear it, keeping his promise as he mentioned after the Paris Olympics.

When the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) revoked Jordan Chiles' bronze medal, it prompted immense criticism from a section of American celebrities. Flavor Flav was among them, and he not only backed Chiles but also declared that he would be honoring her with a bronze clock once she returned home.

He posted on his X account [formerly Twitter],

"USA gonna fight the powers that be,,,, in the meantime between time,,,, I'm always a man of my word @ChilesJordan"

Jordan Chiles had won a gold medal in the team all around event. However, she was stripped of her bronze medal in the floor exercise event after the Romanian authorities protested against the jury's decision and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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The controversy about Jordan Chiles' bronze medal at the Paris Olympics

Jordan Chiles with gold medalist Rebeca Andrade and silver medalist Simone Biles after the floor exercise finals at the Paris Olympics 2024 [Image Source: Getty]

It all began with the finals of the floor exercise event at the Paris Olympics. Apart from the team all around finals, this was the only event where Chiles had managed to qualify and participate. She was kept as a reserve for the individual all around finals as well as the individual vault finals.

In the finals, Rebeca Andrade won the gold medal with a convincing score of 14.166. Although Simone Biles had done a better job, she was penalized for her execution, which led to her final score reading 14.133 as she settled for the silver medal.

However, it was the bronze medal decision that turned controversial. Initially, it was awarded to Ana Barbosu of Romania, who had the same score as her teammate Sabrina Voinea, i.e. 13.700. However, despite the penalty for her execution, Barbosu scored better than Voinea and won the bronze. Jordan Chiles was ranked a disappointing fifth, with a score of 13.666.

However, USA's coach Cecile Landi felt that Chiles wasn't rewarded enough for her execution, and appealed against the decision. To everyone's surprise, the jury relented, and upgraded Jordan Chiles' score by 0.1 points in the execution, increasing it to 13.766, and awarding her the bronze medal.

The Romanian authorities, as well as some social media users, were infuriated by this decision and they protested against the same. They appealed against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which termed the decision as unfair and reinstated the original scores, revoking the bronze medal awarded to Jordan Chiles.