Will Jordan Chiles be made to give her Paris Olympics bronze medal back? All about CAS decision following floor event controversy

By Agnijeeta Majumder

Modified Aug 10, 2024 18:59 GMT

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Jordan Chiles, the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medalist in the floor routine, has been facing constant backlash for FIG's decision regarding her score and position upgrade following an inquiry filed by her team. Despite the Romanian Gymnastics Federation seeking a ruling from CAS, FIG may not overturn its decision and snatch the medal from Chiles.

Jordan Chiles, the three-time Olympic and three-time World medalist, performed in the gymnastics floor finals at the Paris Olympics and earned 13.666 to place fifth behind her Romanian counterparts, Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea, who placed third and fourth with 13.700 each.

Not long after Barbosu started celebrating with her nation's flag wrapped around, the new scores flashed and Chiles was upgraded to bronze with 13.766 following her team's inquiry if one of her leaps should have been 0.40 instead of 0.30. Barbosu's heartbreaking sight prompted the Romanian Gymnastics Federation to apply for CAS to re-analyze the decision and also look into Sabrina Voinea's routine, where she faced a deduction for stepping out of bounds when she didn't.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has now ruled that Chiles' inquiry was submitted after the 1-minute deadline and FIG granting the appeal was wrong. The ruling states:

"The initial score of 13.666 given to Ms Jordan Chiles in the final of the women’s Floor exercise shall be reinstated."

But the ruling also states that the score reversion will not take away the bronze from Jordan Chiles. In fact, there are possibilities that Barbosu and Voinea share the medal with their US counterpart.

One of Romania's CAS lawyers said in a statement:

"USA can make a settlement with us and all 3 gymnasts will take bronze medals!"

Essentially, to sum up the decision in five simple pointers:

1. The application filed by Federation Romanian Gymnastics and Ms. Ana Bărbosu on 6 August 2024, in its amended version of 8 August 2024, is partially upheld.

2. The inquiry submitted on behalf of Ms Jordan Chiles in the Final of the women's Floor exercise was raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline provided by article 8.5 of the 2024 FIG Technical Regulations and is determined to be without effect.

3. The initial score of 13.666 given to Ms Jordan Chiles in the final of the women's Floor exercise shall be reinstated.

4. The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique shall determine the ranking of the Final of the women's Floor exercise and assign the medals) in accordance with the above decision.

5. All other requests are dismissed.

Jordan Chiles takes a break from social media shortly after the ruling announcement

After a five-hour-long hearing session with Voinea and Chiles' coach Cecile Landi present at the court, the decision of score reversion was announced. This came as a hard blow to Jordan Chiles, who took to her Instagram story to announce a break from social media.

"I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you," Chiles wrote.

Jordan Chiles' statement; Instagram - @jordanchiles

Amid this, the president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Mihai Covaliu, sent a letter to the International Gymnastics Federation that he would not attend the Paris Olympics closing ceremony in protest of the 'dishonorable manner' the Romanian gymnasts were treated.

"I decided not to attend the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics, following the scandalous situation in the gymnastics, where our athletes were treated in an absolutely dishonorable manner," he wrote on Facebook. (via NBC Chicago)

The Romanian athletes were also backed by former Olympian Nadia Comaneci, who felt that these abrupt changes in scores take a toll on the mental health of athletes.