USA Gymnastics has claimed that new video evidence could once again change Jordan Chiles’ fate at the Olympics.
On August 5, Chiles secured third place in the women’s floor exercise final behind her teammate Simone Biles, who took home the silver medal.
It was Brazilian Rebeca Andrade who won gold.
Romanians Ana Bărbosu and Sabrina Voinea both lost to Chileans after Team USA objected to the US gymnast’s difficulty rating during the competition.
The judges later decided to increase Chile’s points, giving her a place on the podium.
The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee was apparently not satisfied with the decision and decided to appeal.
Jordan Chiles’ Olympics may not be over yet. (Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
The sports association was ultimately successful in its appeal, as Chiles was recently stripped of her bronze medal.
This was thanks, among other things, to a letter which stated: “With regard to the Olympic values, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee sends you this address, respectfully requesting that you order a re-analysis of the decision-making factors in the case of the Romanian athlete Sabrina Maneca Voinea regarding the evaluation of the execution of the exercise in the floor final, which will be held on Monday, August 5, 2024.”
It continues: “We make this request on the basis of the care that the International Olympic Committee and the entire global sports movement provide to athletes.”
“The manner in which the points awarded are evaluated and the refusal to fully explain the reasons/evidence for rejecting the appeal submitted within the time limit provided for in the Regulation not only damages the image of international gymnastics, but in particular has an impact on the athlete himself and puts his mental health at risk.”
USA Gymnastics has now provided video evidence. (Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Chile’s score was ultimately withheld because the U.S. team’s first appeal appeared to have come four seconds after the one-minute deadline for filing an appeal had expired.
The International Court of Arbitration for Sport declared the appeal ineffective and ordered the restoration of Chile’s original score of 13.666, dropping it to fifth place.
However, the US national gymnastics association, USA Gymnastics, has now presented a video as evidence showing that Chile’s coach Cecile Landi filed the appeal 47 seconds after the score was announced and before the one-minute appeal period had expired.
“The time-stamped video evidence provided by USA Gymnastics on Sunday evening shows that Landi first expressed her request to file an investigation at the investigation table 47 seconds after the result was released, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the result was originally released,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement.
“The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the Tribunal’s decision and therefore USAG had no opportunity to submit it beforehand.”
