American gymnast Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal in floor exercise in doubt after CAS ruling
By Issy Ronald, Jacob Lev and Dan Moriarty, CNN
(CNN) — The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled on Saturday that the initial inquiry made by the USA over Jordan Chiles’ score in Monday’s gymnastics floor exercise final was filed after the one-minute deadline.
That means that Chiles’ score is being reverted to the original 13.666, which was only good enough for fifth place. It’s unclear as of Saturday what that means for the bronze medal that Chiles was awarded.
The competition on Monday ended in dramatic fashion. Immediately after the competition finished on Monday with Chiles’ routine, Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu thought she had won the bronze medal after posting a score of 13.700. Chiles had initially posted a score of 13.666 but her coaches successfully challenged the difficulty score which added 0.1 to her score and moved her up to third, behind gold medalist Rebeca Andrade and American Simone Biles.
Their appearance together on the first all-Black Olympics gymnastics podium produced one of the most iconic images of the Games as the Americans bowed down to Andrade.
However, CAS ruled that the inquiry submitted on behalf of Chiles “was raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline” stipulated in the regulations and “is determined to be without effect.”
The court added that the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) will determine the ranking of the final. CNN has reached out to the FIG to ask what their ruling will be on whether Chiles’ medal will be revoked.
In a joint statement, USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee said they were “devastated” by the ruling and that the inquiry into Chiles’ routine was “filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules.”
They added that Chiles has been “subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media,” which they condemned.
CNN has reached out to USA Gymnastics for more information.
The Romanian Gymnastic Federation (RGF) said, “With one eye we laugh, with one we cry” as CAS ruled Bărbosu should get the bronze medal.
“Congratulations to both of our gymnasts for the special result obtained at the Olympic Games in Paris!”, said RGF lawyer Sabin Gherdan in a statement.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had earlier said he refused to attend the Olympics closing ceremony in protest over the women’s floor exercise final.
Ciolacu said in a statement on Wednesday that Ana Bǎrbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea were treated “in an absolutely dishonorable way” by the judges in the floor final. Bǎrbosu finished in fourth place in a stunning turn of events involving American gymnast Jordan Chiles’ routine, and Maneca-Voinea was given a .1 point penalty for leaving the floor exercise mat, though it did not appear she actually stepped out of bounds.
“It is unacceptable that, in a competition of this magnitude, which promotes values such as respect, understanding and excellence, a girl who had honestly won her medal should be brutally deprived of the result of her work of four years! I couldn’t look at her tears and accept with serenity that such a thing is perfectly normal!”
He added, “And the fact that hundreds of millions of viewers from all over the world were, like us Romanians, effectively shocked by this terrible scene, shows that somewhere, in the system of organizing this competition, something is wrong.”
Chiles posted on her Instagram story, four breaking hearts emojis and “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you.”
The-CNN-Wire
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