Just days after gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci criticized the judges in Paris for a change in scoring that gave Jordan Chiles a medal, she is now defending Chiles.
A controversial reversal of the revised score for the women’s floor exercise final was announced on Saturday, which could ultimately result in the Chilean being stripped of her bronze medal – which was awarded to her after judges increased her score and denied her a medal that had originally been awarded to Romania’s Ana Barbosu.
Chiles announced in an Instagram story that she would be taking a break from social media for mental health reasons. Her social media comment sections have since been flooded with messages of support from fans, but also a barrage of insults from others.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Jordan of Chile stands on the podium during the Pan American Games on October 23, 2023 in Santiago, Chile. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
Comaneci asked people around the world to stop attacking the gymnasts at this year’s Olympics, hashtagging both Barbosu and Chiles in a post on X on Saturday.
“To all fans around the world, please STOP attacking these young ladies… this is unacceptable and cruel,” Comaneci wrote.
However, Comaneci’s request was in response to her own post from earlier in the day, in which she had expressed her pride in Barbosu, her Romanian teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea – who slipped from fourth to fifth place in the floor final after the first score change – and Chiles herself.
The post was published shortly after news of Chiles’ points change broke and included a filter over Barbosu’s photo declaring her the bronze medalist.
“I am proud of you girls… you make the sport shine,” wrote Comaneci.
OLYMPIC SPORTS LEGEND NADIA COMANECI SUGGESTS REFEREE OVER CONTROVERSIAL POINT CHANGE IN FLOOR EXERCISE
Nadia Comneci on the red carpet ahead of the Laureus World Sports Awards at the Palacio De Cibeles on April 22, 2024 in Madrid, Spain. (Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Comaneci, who won five gold medals during her Olympic career and achieved the first perfect 10 in gymnastics history at the 1976 Summer Olympics, had already criticized the judges on Monday for their change in scoring, which brought Barbosu to tears and put Chiles on the winner’s podium.
“I can’t believe we are playing with the mental health and emotions of athletes like this… let’s protect them,” Comaneci wrote on X.
At the time, Barbosu was holding a Romanian flag when she looked up and saw the score on the scoreboard changing. Then she dropped the flag, covered her face with her hands and walked away crying.
Chiles, meanwhile, was allowed to stand on the first all-black gymnastics podium in Olympic history alongside her U.S. teammate Simone Biles, who won silver, and Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade, who won gold. Biles and Chiles even bowed on either side of their Brazilian opponent Andrade, 25, who raised her fists in celebration.
Simone Biles, Rebeca Andrade and Jordan Chiles during the medal ceremony for the women’s floor exercise competition at the Olympic Games in Paris on August 5, 2024. (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
The turnaround came when the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the event’s jury had wrongly approved an investigation that increased the Chileans’ score. She claimed that the appeal was filed after the one-minute time limit for requests had expired and therefore should not have been allowed.
Later on Saturday, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) announced that Chiles’ original score of 13.666 was restored, dropping her to fifth place, while Barbosa moved back up to third place with a score of 13.766. The announcement did not elaborate on the status of Chiles’ medal.
On Sunday, the IOC asked Chile to return its bronze medal.
USA Gymnastics and USOPCE said in a statement they were “devastated” by the ruling.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subjected to constant, completely unfounded and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subjected to such treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who carry them out, support them or instigate them. We commend Jordan for her integrity both on and off the competition field and we continue to stand by her and support her.”
Chiles is only the third gymnast in history to have an Olympic medal stripped, the other two being China’s Dong Fangxiao and Romania’s Andreea Răducan, who both lost their medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Follow Fox News Digital Sports coverage on Xand subscribe the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
