Jordan Chiles Medal Controversy, Explained: Team USA Is Formally Appealing the Decision to Strip the Gymnast of Her Bronze Medal
Jordan Chiles‘s bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics is still in limbo after three agonizing days of contention between Team USA, Team Romania, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
On Sunday evening, Team USA revealed that they had formally appealed CAS’s decision to strip the 23-year-old of her Olympic bronze medal, awarding it instead to Romania’s Ana Barbosu.
“USA Gymnastics on Sunday formally submitted a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, conclusively establishing that Head Coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of the score, within the one-minute deadline required by [Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, or FIG] rule,” the statement reads, per People.
Chiles secured the bronze medal for Team USA on Monday, August 5, after her coach, Cecile Landi, made an inquiry with the judges to adjust the difficulty of Chiles’s routine. Upon review, and with reconsideration of the skills which determine the difficulty level, judges determined that Chiles’s score was 13.766, not 13.666, as they had first posted. With the corrected score, Chiles moved from fifth to third place, ahead of Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who both received a score of 13.700. (Barbosu eclipsed Maneca-Voinea in the tie-breaker.)
Rebeca Andrade of Brazil was awarded the gold medal, while Simone Biles took home the silver for Team USA.
Jordan Chiles of the United States is congratulated by coach Cecile Landi and teammate Simone Biles of the United States.
Tim Clayton – Corbis/Getty Images
Four days after the competition, on Friday, August 9, Romania’s Olympic Committee appealed the correction with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), claiming that Landi had not submitted her inquiry within the one-minute deadline which is required by FIG. Per the complaint, Landi was four seconds over the deadline. In its August 11 statement, however, Team USA says that video evidence they have submitted clearly “shows Landi first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was originally posted.”
