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Jordan Chiles broke down in an emotional interview amid the 2024 Paris Olympics controversy when she was asked to return her bronze medal. The gymnast spoke to Hoda Kotb on the Nov. 11 episode of “Today” show on how her emotional well-being is amid the controversy.
“Honestly, it’s been really, really hard just to comprehend everything that’s been happening,” Chiles expressed. “Finally, now I feel comfortable, in a way, to talk about what has been happening. I feel like I recently have been trying to tell myself I’ve been OK, the past four, five months, and it’s honestly been a very, very difficult time.”
She detailed how frustrating it was for her during that time to go back and forth with officials knowing her truth in the matter.
“It’s hard to tell yourself that everything’s going to be fine when you know literally we didn’t do anything wrong,” she explained. “Everything was very right. Everything was in the time that it needed to be, and for them to come back and say it was four seconds late when we’ve had proof. We’ve had everything that really can show that everything was right.”
“I’ve been like, ‘OK, I can’t control what’s happening on the outside. I can only control what my truth is,’” Chiles shared tearing up. “I know what the truth is, and I know that we were right in everything that we were doing.”
Jordan Chiles Reveals Where The Bronze Medal Is Now
Chiles also shocked fans when she admitted where the bronze medal is at the moment.
“I have the medal,” she declared. “The medal is mine.”
Chiles made headlines during the Olympics after she placed fifth in the women's floor final and later third after her coach Cécile Landi called for an inquiry of the scores. The rescoring was honored at the time and Chiles received the bronze medal making the first all-Black podium in gymnastics history which included teammate Simone Biles securing silver and Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade on top with gold.
“It was an all-Black podium, that was history made,” Chiles said. “That was something I was very proud to be a part of.”
There was tumultuous back-and-forth between the U.S. defending Chiles and Romania demanding for the inquiry to be overturned to result in a win for Ana Barbosu. After weeks of turning in evidence and statements from both sides of the issue, it was finalized that Barbosu would be the official bronze medal carrier.
While it was disheartening news for Chiles and her supporters to hear, she is still focusing on healing as the next Olympics will be in Los Angeles in 2028.
“L.A. is in and out of my mind,” she asserted. “I think right now I’m just trying to take in what’s happened from Paris and just try to take it day by day.”
