Jordan Chiles May Keep Olympic Bronze Medal After All as USA Gymnastics Submits New Evidence to Court

Jordan Chiles might not lose the bronze medal she received at the 2024 Paris Olympics. USA Gymnastics submitted new evidence to challenge a court ruling that led to her being bumped from third place.

Team USA’s Jordan Chiles and Romania’s Ana Barbosu‘s battle for the bronze just took a major turn.

After the International Olympics Committee said that the medal Chiles received for her individual floor exercise routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics last week be reallocated to the latter competitor, USA Gymnastics announced they had submitted new evidence to challenge a court ruling that had led to the decision.

In response to an appeal from Barbosu and Romanian Gymnastics Federation, the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport had invalidated an inquiry that Chiles’ coach had made during the Aug. 5 gymnastics event, which boosted her score to elevate her to third place, above Barbosu. The Romanian side argued the coach made the inquiry four seconds past a one-minute time limit.

“USA Gymnastics formally submitted a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” the group said in a statement shared Aug. 11, “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 1-minute deadline required by FIG [International Gymnastics Federation] rule.”

USA Gymnastics said that in their letter, submitted Aug. 10, they requested “that the CAS ruling be revised and Chiles’ bronze-medal score of 13.766 be reinstated.”

The group also said that their “time-stamped, video evidence” shows that Landi not only submitted her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, but that a second statement was made 55 seconds after Chiles’ score was originally posted.

“The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision,” USA Gymnastics added, “and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it.”

The statement followed the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s recent vow to appeal the court’s decision, in which they alleged there were “critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed.”

Neither Chiles, 23, nor Barbosu, 18, have commented on the groups’ responses. Chiles’ sister Jazmin Chiles reposted USA Gymnastics’ statement on her Instagram Stories, adding, “I smell receipts.”

The organization’s message and IOC’s announcement were both released the day of the Paris Olympics’ Closing Ceremony. Neither Chiles nor Barbosu were spotted at the event.

After the court released its ruling Aug. 10, Chiles expressed heartbreak over the potential loss of her bronze medal, her first individual Olympic honor, which followed two gold medals she earned for gymnastics team all-around finals in Paris and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

The gymnast, who has been slammed with hateful comments on social media amid the controversy, also wrote on her Instagram Stories, “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health.”

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Barbosu, who has also been the target of internet trolls due to the dispute, had expressed empathy for Chiles and her Romanian teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who ranked behind her in the floor exercise final and had co-filed the appeal.

The latter athlete had asked the court to invalidate a 0.1-point penalty on her own score that would have put her in third place, but was denied. The court also denied the Romanian side’s request to have all three athlete’s tie for third and award them all medals.

“Sabrina, Jordan, my thoughts are with you,” Barbosu, whose shocked and tearful reaction to losing out on the bronze at the floor exercise final went viral, wrote in English on her Instagram Stories. “I know what you are feeling, because I’ve been through the same. But I know you’ll come back stronger.”

She added, “I hope from deep [in] my heart that at the next Olympics, all three of us will share [the] same podium. This is my true dream!”

Look back at more 2024 Olympic controversies and scandals…

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Jordan Chiles Medal Controversy

After the U.S. gymnast won bronze in the women’s gymnastics individual floor exercise final, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and Romanian finalists Ana Maria Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who came in fourth and fifth place, filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Romanian side argued that an inquiry that Chiles’ coach had submitted at the competition that had led to the athlete’s score to be raised by 0.1 of a point should not have been granted because it was submitted four seconds past a one-minute deadline.

The court agreed and ruled that the U.S. athlete’s initial score of 13.666 would be reinstated, a decision also adopted later by the International Gymnastics Federation, which said in a statement that it had modified the rankings to put Barbosu in third place.

The International Olympics Committee then announced that it “will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania),” adding, “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 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee says it plans to appeal the decision.

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Canada Boots Women’s Soccer Coach

The 2024 Olympics had barely begun when Bev Priestman, head coach of the Canadian women’s soccer team, was removed from her post by Canada Soccer after her staff was accused of using drones to spy on the New Zealand team ahead of their group stage match.

“Additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” Canada Soccer CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue said in a July 25 statement explaining the decision. “In light of these new revelations, Canada Soccer has made the decision to suspend…Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and until the completion of our recently announced independent external review.”

Priestman apologized, saying in a statement, “I am absolutely heartbroken for the players, and I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart for the impact this situation has had on all of them.”

The team, which won gold in Tokyo, is “a group of people who care very much about sportsmanship and integrity,” she continued. “As the leader of the team on the field, I want to take accountability, and I plan to fully co-operate with the [Canadian Soccer Association] investigation.”

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South Korea Mistaken for North Korea During the Opening Ceremony

As the boat carrying athletes from South Korea came into view during the July 26 Opening Ceremony, they were incorrectly announced in both French and English as being from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea—which is North Korea.

South Korea, meanwhile, is the Republic of Korea.

In a July 27 statement, the International Olympic Committee noted, “We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the Korean team during the Opening Ceremony broadcast.”

IOC President Thomas Bach also called South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to apologize, per the chief executive’s office, which relayed that Yoon told Bach the people of South Korea were “very shocked and embarrassed” by the mistake. An IOC spokesperson called the error an “operational mistake” that was “clearly deeply regrettable.”

Parade order is determined alphabetically according to the host nation’s language—minus Greece, which always goes first as the home of the first Olympics, and the host nation goes last. South Korea was the 48th country in the Parade of Nations, while North Korea was 153rd.