Jordan Chiles may have to hand back the bronze medal she won at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Earlier this week, the 23-year-old gymnast came in third place in the floor exercise, but she originally placed fifth behind Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea.
Following her routine, Jordan was initially given a score of 13.666, but her coach Cecile Landi had filed an inquiry challenging the judge’s decision revolving around a tour jeté full, or split leap, believing that her score was too low.
Keep reading to find out more…The judges ended up ruling in Jordan‘s favor and she went from fifth to third place, winning the bronze medal.
Now, the Romanian gymnasts are challenging Jordan‘s score change, arguing that the inquiry was improperly filed.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Saturday (August 10) that Jordan‘s appeal was submitted past the one-minute deadline for such requests and therefore should not have been granted.
“The Applicants sought a ruling from the CAS Ad hoc Division concluding that the Inquiry was filed beyond the 1-minute deadline specified in art. 8.5 of FIG 2024 Technical Regulations (i.e. 1 minute and 4 seconds) and dismissing the Inquiry as untimely, thereby upholding the initial score of 13.666 and adjusting the final ranking accordingly,” the CAS shared in a statement.
Following the news, the U.S. Gymnastics and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a joint statement that they were “devastated” by the ruling.
“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise,” the statement read. “The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’s floor exercise was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring.”
Jordan has been on a social media break due to the criticism she has been facing since winning the bronze medal.
“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subject to such treatment,” the statement continued. “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.”
The International Federation of Gymnastics will soon be announcing their ruling on their website.
