Paris Olympics: Jordan Chiles could lose bronze medal due to technical error

PARIS — American gymnast Jordan Chiles could be stripped of her bronze medal on the floor exercise after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that an appeal against her score was filed four seconds after the one-minute time limit.

As such, Chiles’ score dropped from 13.766 to her original 13.666. That’s lower than Romania’s Ana Barbosa, who scored 13.700 — the third highest. CAS instructed the Federation of International Gymnastics to “determine the ranking of the floor exercise and award the medal(s) in accordance with the (CAS) decision.”

Late Saturday night, the FIG confirmed the CAS ruling and indicated that Chiles’ score would be restored to its original level of 13.666 and that Barbosa would be returned to third place.

“The rankings of the women’s artistic gymnastics floor final have been adjusted accordingly, with Ana Barbosu (ROU) ranked third with a score of 13.700,” the FIG said on its website.

The FIG ruling does not say where Chiles finished or what, if anything, will happen to the bronze medal Chiles received on August 5.

It is an important decision, based on the darkest rules.

Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landi, originally appealed Chiles’ score when she felt the judges had misjudged Chiles’ difficulty. Landi felt the judges had failed to notice that Chiles had performed a split leap — or a tour jete full, in gymnastics terms — and gave her a difficulty rating of 5.800 instead of the correct 5.900.

After review, the judges agreed and increased Chiles’ score, moving her from fifth to third place.

It was a huge blow for Barbosa, who was celebrating her medal and waving the Romanian flag to cheering fans, when the decision on her appeal dropped her to fourth place.

The Romanians, including legendary Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci, were fiercely critical, saying the decision was unfair and mentally unhealthy for Barbosa.

Now, CAS has ruled that Landi did not file the examination quickly enough. It neither overturned the appeal decision nor said Chiles’ new score was incorrect, merely pointing to a rule requiring all examinations to be filed orally within one minute of the end of a routine.

“The investigation submitted on behalf of Ms. Jordan Chiles in the Women’s Floor Exercise Final was initiated after the expiration of the one-minute deadline established in Article 8.5 of the 2024 FIG Technical Rules and has been declared without result,” the CAS ruling said.

USA Gymnastics criticized the CAS ruling, noting that the precise timing of the investigation is not as important as getting the actual score correct. They condemned online attacks on Chiles after she vaulted past Barbosa.

“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ruling on the women’s floor exercise. The investigation into the difficulty of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise was submitted in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement.

Chiles was awarded the medal after Monday’s floor final. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won gold and her American teammate Simone Biles took silver. On the podium, the three gymnasts created one of the most enduring images of the Paris Olympics when Biles and Chiles bowed before Andrade in a show of respect and sportsmanship.

“She’s an icon, a legend herself,” Chiles said Monday. “I think getting recognition is something that everybody should do, (especially) someone who’s put in the effort, who’s shown dedication. … She’s not only given Simone her flowers (over the years), but a lot of us on the United States (team) have our flowers.

“So giving back is what makes it so beautiful,” Chiles said. “I felt it was necessary.”

Chiles is back in the United States and the process for her return of her bronze medal, if necessary, is unknown. A FIG spokesperson told USA Today that the redistribution of medals is up to the IOC.

The investigation process in gymnastics is unique. It requires an “oral investigation” of a score one minute after the score is posted. It must be “confirmed” electronically within four minutes. USAG also had to agree to pay the Federation of International Gymnastics a fee of 300 Swiss francs — or $351.10 in U.S. dollars — if the investigation was denied.

“I honestly didn’t expect it to happen,” Landi said of the investigation.

Yet it happened. Landi had her back to the scoreboard, but Chiles was watching closely. When the extra 0.1 came in, she was promoted to bronze, with a huge cry of joy.

“When I heard her scream, I turned around and thought, ‘What?’” Landi said.

“I was so excited,” Chiles said afterwards, holding her bronze medal.

Romania had rallied behind Barbosa, heartbroken by the images of the bronze medal celebrations cut short by the appeals process. “I can’t believe we are playing with the emotions of athletes like this,” Comaneci said on social media.

Romanian President Marcel Ciolacu had announced he would boycott Sunday’s closing ceremony over the situation.

As a result, Chiles received online criticism, which USA Gymnastics condemned on Saturday.

“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been the victim of consistent, completely unwarranted and extremely hurtful attacks on social media,” USAG said. “No athlete should have to suffer this kind of treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who perpetrate, support or incite them. We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to support her.”