LeBron James shows support for Jordan Chiles amid bronze medal drama
Aug 5, 2024; Paris, France; Jordan Chiles of the United States poses for a photo with her gold and bronze medasl after day three of the gymnastics event finals during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
LeBron James is showing support for Jordan Chiles in the wake of a recent ruling that could cost the U.S. gymnast her bronze medal.
Chiles won the Bronze medal in the women’s floor exercise at the Summer Olympics in Paris last week. But on Saturday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Chiles was improperly granted an inquiry during the competition that led to an increase in her score.
The International Olympic Committee on Sunday confirmed the CAS ruling and announced that it was reallocating the bronze medal from Chiles to Romania’s Ana Barbosu. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is appealing the ruling.
Not long after the IOC announced its decision, LeBron showed his support for Chiles with a post on X:
♾️!!!!!! 🤎🇺🇸 https://t.co/RfmDrLleia
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 11, 2024
The CAS ruling stated that Chiles’ appeal to the judging panel during the floor exercise was made after the one-minute deadline for such requests to be made. If the appeal should not have been allowed, that would mean Chiles should have received a score of 13.666, which would only be good enough for fifth place. Barbosu finished fourth after Chiles’ appeal was granted.
USA Gymnastics issued a strongly worded statement on Saturday supporting Chiles and condemning the “utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks” that have been directed toward the 23-year-old.
