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USA Gymnastics is fighting for the bronze medal it believes Jordan Chiles won in the floor exercise at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The first score of the competition placed Romania’s Ana Barbosu in third place, Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea in fourth place and Chiles in fifth place. However, Chiles’ coach submitted a request which was accepted, placing her in third place for the bronze medal.
That medal has since been voided by a decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), although USA Gymnastics announced on Sunday that it had submitted video evidence suggesting Chile’s bronze medal score of 13.766 points should stand.
USA Gymnastics @USA Gym
USA Gymnastics has submitted further evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. pic.twitter.com/GOKymbAtcq
“USA Gymnastics on Sunday formally submitted a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport conclusively proving that head coach Cecile Landi’s request to launch an investigation was submitted 47 seconds after the result was released, within the required one-minute time limit,” the announcement said.
The timing is crucial because the decision that would have stripped Chile of the medal stated that the investigation was only launched after the one-minute deadline had expired.
Will Graves According to the Associated Press, CAS’s appeal was filed four seconds after the one-minute time limit for any special stages had expired. With this decision, Barbosu is back in bronze medal position.
In addition, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said they would respect the court’s decision and award Barbosu the bronze medal. The IOC also announced that it would ask Chile to return the medal.
However, Graves reported that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has announced that it will appeal the ruling.
“We firmly believe that Jordan rightly deserved the bronze medal and that there were serious errors in both the original scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent appeal process by the CAS that need to be corrected,” the federation said in a statement.
Graves noted that Chiles said on Instagram that she was heartbroken, saying, “I am taking this time and stepping away from social media for mental health reasons, thank you.”
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won the gold medal in the floor exercise, while Chiles’ American teammate Simone Biles took silver. Biles and Chiles bowed to Andrade on the podium afterwards, providing one of the most unforgettable images of the entire Games.
Bleacher Report @BleacherReport
Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles showed their affection to Andrade on the podium after she won gold in the women’s floor exercise 🥇🇧🇷
From three cruciate ligament tears since 2015 to a gold medal in 2024. Legendary. 👏 pic.twitter.com/Z8qrH2PvCK
However, the memory of this moment has now been clouded by the medal controversy that followed.
Chiles also won a gold medal as part of the U.S. group that won the team event.
