The controversy involving the court decision that asked Jordan Chiles to return the bronze medal in the Olympic floor exercise event is not over.
USA Gymnastics has decided to fight the ruling that was issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that said Chiles' representative had submitted an inquiry more than a minute after her score in the event had been published. As a result, it was outside the requirement of the rule — by four seconds.
However, Chiles representatives submitted a letter and video evidence that head coach Cecile Landi's first appeal of the gymnast's score in the floor exercise came within 47 seconds. It was followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the original score was posted.
After the court's ruling, the International Gymnastic Federation made a decision to remove Chiles' bronze medal in that event and give the award to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu.
The thrust of the original appeal by USA Gymnastics was that Chiles was not given full credit for the work she had done in the floor exercise and that she deserved a higher score than she had been given.
“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement Sunday, reported by the Associated Press.
Chiles heartbroken by the controversy
Chiles said she was removing herself from social media as the scoring decisions unfolded because she was clearly upset by the decisions made by the court and the reactions of others on X and Instagram.
Barbosu was the original bronze medal recipient and then it was taken away when the appeal by USA Gymnastics on Chiles' behalf was approved.
The court ruling and subsequent decision by the FIG gave it back to Barbosu and now USA Gymnastics is trying to reopen and potentially reverse the decision again.
While USA Gymnastics was taking up the cause for Jordan Chiles, former Romanian Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Nadia Comaneci was standing up for Barbosu. Comaneci was concerned about Barbosu's mental health throughout the process.
“I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this … let’s protect them,” Comaneci said on X.
The floor exercise was the final women's gymnastics event of the Paris Olympics. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil was the gold medal winner, while American gymnast Simone Biles was forced to settle for the silver medal.
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