U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles must return the bronze medal she won in the Paris Olympics floor exercise last week after the sport’s highest court rejected an appeal by Chiles’s coach that vaulted her to third place over Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stated on Aug. 11.
The IOC confirmed the reallocation of the medal less than 24 hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided an appeal from Chiles’s coach during the Aug. 5 competition, which had resulted in a score change.
The IOC stated that it “will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania),” in an Aug. 11 statement.
“We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal,” the statement reads.
The ruling from a court on Aug. 10 states that the American’s inquiry was made outside the allotted time window and is therefore invalid, reverting Chiles’s score to 13.666. Barbosu received a 13.700.
“The inquiry submitted on behalf of ... Jordan Chiles in the Final of the women’s Floor exercise was raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline provided by article 8.5 of the 2024 [International Gymnastics Federation] Technical Regulations and is determined to be without effect,” the court’s decision reads in part.
In an apparent reaction to the decision, Chiles wrote in an Instagram post that she was “taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health.”
USA Gymnastics, in an Aug. 10 statement, said that the ruling and “inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with [International Gymnastics Federation] rules to ensure accurate scoring.”
“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless, and extremely hurtful attacks on social media,” the statement reads. “No athlete should be subject to such treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who engage, support, or instigate them. We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her.”
On Aug. 11, the team said in a statement that it would appeal the decision because it believes “that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation.”
Team USA coach Cecile Landi last week explained why she asked for a review, telling reporters that “at this point, we had nothing to lose, so I was like, ‘We’re just going to try.’”
“I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen, but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like, ‘What?’” Landi said.
Meanwhile, Chiles told TeamUSA.com that she didn’t “even realize my coaches put in an inquiry” for her score.
After the Americans’ appeal last week that prevented Barbosu from getting the bronze, controversy erupted. Romanian gymnastics legend and 1976 Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci was critical of the judges.
“I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this,” Comaneci posted on social media.
The former longtime gymnast also posted a video clip of the NBC prime-time broadcast of the final event and claimed that Romanian gymnast Sabrina Maneca-Voinea’s heel didn’t go out of bounds, alleging that she was unfairly penalized.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu wrote on social media that he would not attend the Olympics’ Closing Ceremony on Aug. 11 after Barbosu was denied the podium.
“I decided not to attend the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics, following the scandalous situation in the gymnastics, where our athletes were treated in an absolutely dishonorable manner,” he wrote on Facebook. “To withdraw a medal earned for honest work on the basis of an appeal, which neither the coaches nor the top technicians understand, is totally unacceptable!”
Despite being stripped of the bronze medal, Chiles still has a gold in the team all-around competition that Team USA won earlier in the competition.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
