USA gymnast Jordan Chiles could be stripped of her bronze medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Saturday that she was improperly granted an inquiry during the women’s floor exercise final that led to an increase in her score.
The ruling, which was handed down Saturday, stated that Chiles’ appeal to the judging panel during the event was made after the one-minute deadline for such requests to be made. Via Tom Schad of USA Today Sports, that means Chiles should have received a score of 13.666, which would only be good enough for fifth place. Ana Barbosu of Romania finished fourth after Chiles’ appeal was granted.
CAS did not actually determine how the scoring change should be handled. Instead, it left that decision to FIG, the international gymnastics governing organization, to determine what the final rankings should be in accordance with the ruling. As of Saturday, the FIG had not yet made a statement on the matter.
USA Gymnastics, in its own statement, said it was “devastated” by the ruling, arguing that the appeal on Chiles’ behalf had been filed “in good faith.” The statement also decried “utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks” directed at Chiles on social media since the competition concluded.
Joint Statement from USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee regarding the CAS decision on the women’s floor final:
CAS Decision: https://t.co/KR6DYsfxEk pic.twitter.com/r1e6QKmKA4
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) August 10, 2024
Chiles’ successful appeal had been a huge source of outrage in Romania, as the judges’ decision came after Barbosu believed she had won a bronze medal and was celebrating accordingly. Romania’s prime minister even said he would refuse to attend Sunday’s closing ceremony in protest of the successful appeal.
Chiles and Simone Biles had a memorable gesture in the medal ceremony after that event, but now it is not clear if Chiles will be keeping the medal in the first place.
