Jordan Chiles has been robbed. Recently, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) required the renowned U.S. gymnast to return her bronze medal. A slew of articles stating “Chiles Stripped of Her Medal” hit the press.
From those headlines alone, I thought Chiles had lost her standing because she committed some sort of heinous crime, but it turns out the situation was nothing she had control over and, in reality, an epic international commotion.
Below, I’ve summarized exactly what happened:
- Romania’s Ana Barbosu competed in individual women’s floor exercise, and scored a 13.7 landing her at 3rd place at the time
- Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea also competed and earned a 13.7 but was placed behind Barbosu (at 4th) because of a lower execution score
- Team USA’s Jordan Chiles competed and scores a 13.666 (5th place)
- U.S. coach Cecile Landi filed an appeal on Chiles’ difficulty score, as she felt her Tour Jete Full wasn’t accurately evaluated
- The judges amended Chiles’ score to a 13.766, and Chiles officially won her bronze medal
- A super cute medal ceremony ensued; U.S. athletes Simone Biles (gold) and Jordan Chiles (bronze) bowed to Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade (silver) on the podium
- Side note: this was the first all-Black podium in the history of Olympic gymnastics!
- The Romanian Gymnastics Federation challenged Coach Landi’s appeal, stating it was made 4 seconds after the deadline
- Appeals are required to be made within 1 minute of the athlete’s score being posted
- The CAS ruled that the judging panel should not have corrected Chiles’ score
- The court officially stripped Chiles of her 3rd place rank and medal on Aug. 11, and Romania’s Ana Barbosu received said medal on Aug. 16, in Romania
As you can see, this was overall a messy way to close out the Olympic competitions, but here’s the kicker: Coach Landi submitted both her scoring inquiries within the time limit.
Chiles appealed the infamous CAS decision and gave video proof that Coach Landi submitted one inquiry 47 seconds after Chiles’ score was posted, and another 55 seconds after. In a gracious move, the CAS refused to correct their ruling and justified their stubbornness by stating that they couldn’t reconsider even with new evidence.
This all boils down to the Romanian team and CAS jumping the gun on a complaint and in my opinion being too embarrassed to backtrack and apologize. Not only did Chiles train hard to place third but now she’s forced to do extra cardio to chase down her deserved medal.
Chiles is, unfortunately, a victim of circumstance. However, she and her coaching team have appealed to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which has the power to overturn the CAS decision, in hopes of regaining her hard-earned medal. I’m crossing my fingers and manifesting that the situation turns to her favor. But, the bronze lining of the situation is that the iconic rapper Flavor Flav gifted Chiles a bedazzled bronze clock chain, which is a signature accessory of his outfits. It’s a sweet gesture and show of support but also ironic, considering a measure of time is what created this drama.
Should worse come to worst, I’m happy that Chiles still has the memory of standing on the podium with her USA teammate and friend from Brazil in what was a historic Olympic top 3, but also a sincere demonstration of sportsmanship and an experience that no one can take from her.
However, if the best case scenario comes to fruition and the Swiss court returns Chiles’ medal, I would strongly advise her to immediately lock it in a safe and stash it somewhere no one would guess for safekeeping.