The Paris Olympics ended on Sunday, but the controversy and confusion over who should receive a bronze medal continues.
American gymnast Jordan Chiles took third place on the podium in the women’s floor exercise on August 5. A week later, the International Olympic Committee announced that it would pass the medal on to Romania’s Ana Bărbosu. In the days between, there was a web of decisions by various governing bodies. Ultimately, it comes down to a matter of four seconds on a hectic evening at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
Here’s everything we know so far about the situation and what might happen next.
What happened during the floor final?
Nine gymnasts competed in the floor exercise final after qualifying. The order of their exercises was randomly selected.
Bărbosu entered fifth and received 13,700. Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, another Romanian gymnast, finished eighth, also receiving 13,700 points. Bărbosu remained in third place ahead of Maneca-Voinea as she received a higher execution score. Maneca-Voinea’s score reflected a one-tenth deduction for an out-of-bounds step, but the Romanian gymnast has since assured that she did not go out of bounds. Her coach did not request a review on the day of the final.
Chiles, who competed last, received 13.666 points, placing fifth. When the big screen at the Bercy Arena showed the result, Bărbosu celebrated with a Romanian flag.
However, Chiles’ coach Cecile Landi felt that the judges had not given Chiles full marks for one vault, resulting in the gymnast’s difficulty score being 5.8 instead of the intended 5.9. Landi submitted a request to the judges to challenge Chiles’ difficulty score. After a review, the judges agreed that Chiles deserved the extra tenth of a second for executing the vault. They increased her score to 13.766, which put her in third place, ahead of Bărbosu.
Chiles screamed with joy and was overwhelmed by her emotions, while Bărbosu dropped her Romanian flag in shock and left the dance floor crying. As the medal ceremony continued, Chiles, silver medalist Simone Biles and Olympic champion Rebeca Andrade walked to the podium – and Chiles and Biles bowed to Andrade in one of the most memorable images of the Olympics.
Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bow to Rebeca Andrade on the podium at the 2024 Olympic Games (Photo: Elsa / Getty Images)
That request – and the timing of its submission – is at the heart of everything that has happened since.
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What rules apply to submitting a request?
Only a coach can make a request, and the request for a review is for the difficulty rating only. Each gymnast and her coach know what D rating she should receive because they know the point values of all the skills included in the routine. If a gymnast sees in her score breakdown that the difficulty rating does not accurately reflect all the skills she performed, the coach can ask the judges to review the routine and reconsider the D rating.
A verbal request and a written form are required, and there is also a $300 fee that is refunded if the challenge is successful. While approved requests result in a higher score, denied requests risk lowering the gymnast’s score. This was the case at the 2019 World Championships, when American gymnast Kara Eaker’s D score on balance beam dropped by four-tenths after a request.
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What happened next?
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation appealed Chiles’ request to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, arguing that it was submitted four seconds too late and should therefore be rejected. The CAS agreed that Chiles’ request was submitted four seconds after the one-minute time limit for such a request had expired. The court ruled that Chiles’ original score of 13.666 should be reinstated.
The CAS then delegated the decision to the International Gymnastics Federation, the governing body of the sport (also known as the FIG), to determine the final rankings and re-award the medals.
CAS rejected an appeal Maneca-Voinea’s score and the neutral deduction of one tenth eliminated her from the race for the top three places. Romania had requested that Chile’s three bronze medals be awarded, Bărbosu and Maneca-Voinea.
Ana Bărbosu waves after her performance on the floor at the 2024 Olympic Games (Photo: PAUL ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
What did FIG decide?
The FIG changed the results to reflect the CAS decision and placed Bărbosu in third place, but left the decision on who would receive the bronze medal to the International Olympic Committee.
The IOC then announced that it would reallocate the bronze medal to Bărbosu and that it was in contact with the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee “regarding the return of (Chile’s) bronze medal”.
Bărbosu will receive a bronze medal at an event in Bucharest, the country’s capital, on Friday. said the Romanian Gymnastics Federation in a social media post.
But wait a minute – why did Chiles only have one minute to submit a request?
The FIG technical regulations state that questions must be asked verbally before the next gymnast’s score is shown, which usually means a few minutes for each gymnast before the last one.
However, the rules also stipulate that the last gymnast competing in an event has only one minute to submit a request, with time starting “after the score is displayed on the scoreboard.”
The person receiving the oral request is expected to record the time of receipt of the request and thus the initiation of the procedure.
Since Chiles was the last competitor in the floor final, she was limited to this one-minute time window.
Does everyone agree with the time?
Not quite.
A day after the CAS decision, USA Gymnastics announced that it had new video evidence showing that Landis’ request was made 47 seconds after the result was released, bringing the investigation to a close within the one-minute window.
How did the court react?
CAS informed USA Gymnastics that it could not accept the appeal because its rules “Do not allow a review of an arbitration award,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement.
The court said the evidence showing that the investigation took place one minute and four seconds after the result was published “was discussed at the hearing and the parties had ample opportunity to present their arguments and objections in that regard.”
It was said that proceedings could only be resumed if “all parties agree” – which, however, seems unlikely.
What happens next?
USA Gymnastics said it plans to continue its appeal of Chile’s bronze medal, which would likely involve an appeal to the Swiss Federal Court.
“If new evidence emerges after the CAS decision (which was objectively unknown at the time of the CAS hearing), it would be possible to ask the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to order the reopening of the case,” the CAS said.
USA Gymnastics said the video footage was not available before the CAS decision.
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What did Jordan say to Chiles?
Chiles posted two Instagram stories following the verdict on Saturday: one with four broken heart emojis and a second with the text: “I am taking this time and withdrawing from social media for the sake of my mental health, thank you.”
What does Ana Did Bărbosu say?
Barbosu shared her reaction to the news with Golazo.roand said her thoughts were with Chiles and Maneca-Voinea. “I know very well that it hurts because I went through the same states. But I know you and I am sure that you will have the strength to come back even stronger. I sincerely hope that we will be on the same podium at the next Olympic Games. That is my dream.”
Is there any precedent for returning a medal?
Yes. But most cases where medals were returned were the result of doping violations. For example, cyclist Lance Armstrong returned his bronze medal from the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney in 2013. Sprinter Marion Jones, who won three gold and two bronze medals in Sydney, gave her back after a doping scandal.
Legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt even had to return his gold medal from the 2008 Olympic Games 4×100-meter relay after teammate Nesta Carter was found guilty of a doping violation.
Has an investigation ever had an impact on an Olympic podium?
Yes – twice at the 2012 Olympics. In the men’s team final, Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura was the last competitor of the day and capped off the competition on the pommel horse. He scored 13.466, which put Japan in fourth place behind China, Great Britain and Ukraine. A Japanese coach made a request that resulted in Uchimura’s score increasing to 14.166. This put Japan in second place, Great Britain in third and Ukraine off the podium.
A few days later, American Aly Raisman competed in the balance beam final, the last of eight women to compete. The judges initially gave her a score of 14.966, but Raisman’s coach felt her difficulty rating was a tenth too low. He submitted a request, which was approved, and Raisman’s rating was raised. Her new score put her in third place, tied with Romanian gymnast Cătălina Ponor. Raisman’s execution score was higher than Ponor’s, so the American gymnast received the bronze medal and the Romanian was relegated to fourth place.
(Photo: Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
