US gymnast Jordan Chiles says video evidence should be considered in bronze medal appeal

American gymnast Jordan Chiles has said video footage of her floor exercise in the Paris Olympics final proves she played by the rules, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) must take this into account in her bid for a bronze medal.

Chiles was forced to surrender the medal when CAS ruled last month in favor of Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu, who was subsequently awarded the bronze medal even though Chiles had already been awarded the medal during the ceremony.

Barbosu and her team had appealed to CAS that the U.S. team had launched an investigation into the floor exercise results, and that the investigation was recorded four seconds after the one-minute deadline set by the International Gymnastics Federation.

On the day of the floor final, Chiles was promoted from fifth to third place when her score increased from 13.666 to 13.766 after one of her coaches filed an investigation.

The success of the Romanian appeal meant that Chiles’ score was lowered and she dropped to fifth place. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won gold, while pre-match favourite Simone Biles took silver.

Chiles last week appealed the CAS decision to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland and on Tuesday her lawyers argued that CAS should consider the video evidence, which was recorded as part of a Netflix documentary about Biles.

Chiles’ lawyers argue that CAS should reopen the proceedings to review the video and audio evidence, which the court previously failed to do.

“We believe CAS should review the full audio and video recording, which shows without a doubt that Jordan followed all rules in the workplace and during her investigation,” said Maurice Suh, a partner at law firm Gibson Dunn and an attorney for Chiles.

“Not doing so would be fundamentally unfair and unjust. Jordan is grateful for the overwhelming support she has received in her efforts to achieve the right outcome.”

A source told Reuters the Swiss court will make a ruling within four to six months.

Reuters