No Olympic athlete should be subjected to the emotional roller coaster Jordan Chiles has been on the last few days as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) considered an appeal of Monday’s floor exercise final and landed on a ruling Sunday that would strip Chiles of her bronze medal.
The court voided the on-floor appeal by Team USA that moved Chiles from fifth to third place and knocked Romania’s Ana Barbosu off the podium, saying it came four seconds after the time allowed for scoring inquiries.
That decision led the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reallocate the bronze from Chiles to Barbosu, making a bad situation worse by dragging a second gymnasts through the avoidable experience of tasting Olympic success only to be told it was just a fever dream. That medal you won… that unforgettable moment on the podium… it never happened.
But alas, the court has a chance to make it right.
In a statement to USA TODAY Sports’ Christine Brennan, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said it will issue its own appeal of the ruling, citing errors in the initial scoring and the appeal process.
The best outcome is one that doesn’t penalize the athletes for the mistakes of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and IOC.
I’m not one for handing out participation trophies for the sake of making everyone happy, but because the judges couldn’t get it right in real time, the only way this can end is with Chiles and Barbosu sharing the bronze. They both have a reason to believe they were the rightful winners. It’s too late to tell either they’re wrong.
In a perfect world, the judges would have scored Chiles’ routine correctly the first time, removing the need for her initial on-floor appeal. Or they would have rejected her appeal for being too late, and there wouldn’t have been the need for the Romanian appeal. Or the IOC would have acknowledged the court’s ruling but not landed on the ridiculous decision to take away a medal Chiles earned.
There were so many opportunities for the people in charge to get this right and end it. Now, they’re getting one last chance, and they better not screw it up.
It looks like Jordan Chiles has to return her bronze medal. Let us explain.
Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. This is FTW Explains: The Olympics. Have you seen some stuff about Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles possibly returning the bronze medal she won in Paris for her floor exercise? And you’re very confused about that whole thing? Don’t worry. We’re here to help.
You may remember when Jordan Chiles dramatically won a bronze medal for her floor routine on Monday following a coach’s challenge to her score. It turns out the saga did not end there as Romania (understandably) lodged its own appeal of Team USA’s challenge.
It’s been an extremely emotional few days for Chiles as the fate of her medal was left up to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG).
Saturday brought a little clarity to the situation, and it’s really a heartbreaking one for all athletes involved following multiple appeals.
Why does Chiles has to give her medal back?
UPDATE Sunday 5:15 a.m. ET: Chiles does have to give her medal back, the International Olympic Committee announced Sunday. More via USA TODAY Sports:
The news comes less than 24 hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the judging panel for the women’s floor exercise final made a mistake in granting an inquiry filed by Chiles’ coaches, which moved the American gymnast into medal position. The Romanian Gymnastics Federation had challenged the validity of that move, saying it was filed four seconds beyond the deadline by which any inquiries had to be submitted.
The IOC said in a statement that it will reallocate the bronze medal to Romania’s Ana Barbosu.
Original story:
Well, first let’s slow down. As of Saturday afternoon Chiles doesn’t have to give anything back, but we will update this post if that changes.
PARIS (AP) — Gymnastics body bumps Romania's Ana Barbosu to third in floor finals, doesn't say if Jordan Chiles must forfeit bronze.
If you remember, Chiles originally placed fifth in her floor routine with a score of 13.666 behind two Romanian gymnasts, Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea (who each scored 13.7). Chiles’ coaches sucessfully challenged the judges’ scoring on the difficulty of her’ routine, which added 0.1 to her score and earned Chiles the bronze.
No one is arguing Chiles’ initial score was correct or that the judges were wrong to award the 0.1 upon review.
Instead, Romania’s appeal came down to the timing of Team USA’s challenge. CAS ruled the Americans did, indeed, challenge too late, according to FIG rules — by a matter of four seconds.
FOUR SECONDS!? Chiles might lose her bronze because of four seconds!?
Yep. It’s truly awful, but those are the rules. Coaches get 60 seconds to challenge a score from the moment it flashes across the scoreboard. Chiles’ challenge came in after 64 seconds.
Inquiries for the Difficulty score are allowed, provided that they are made verbally immediately after the publication of the score or at the very latest before the score of the following gymnast/athlete or group is shown.
In case two (2) categories / apparatus are judged alternatively (by two (2) panels or one single panel) the inquiry must be made before the score of the following gymnast or group of the same category/apparatus is shown.
For the last gymnast or group of a rotation, this limit is one (1) minute after the score is shown on the scoreboard. The person designated to receive the verbal inquiry has to record the time of receiving it, either in writing or electronically, and this starts the procedure.
Only the accredited coaches in the competition area are entitled to submit an inquiry.
Well, that’s just a very bad rule
Look, if the point is to make sure the athletes get the fairest score possible, then yes. It’s a very bad rule. But it’s also the rule that’s in place. And just as it was fair for Team USA to challenge Chiles’ score, it’s fair for Romania to appeal the challenge.
But Romania’s request actually extremely generous. They wanted to split the bronze three ways. Which brings us back to the CAS.
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 Applicants also sought a conclusion that the penalty of 0.1 for execution imposed on Ms Sabrina Maneca-Voinea was given without basis, thereby increasing her score to 13.800, and that the final ranking be adjusted accordingly. Subsidiarily, the Applicants requested a ruling adjusting the ranking of Ms Ana Maria Bărbosu, Ms Sabina Maneca-Voinea and Ms Jordan Chiles by placing all three athletes in 3rd position and the allocation of medals to all three athletes.
1. The application filed by Federation Romanian Gymnastics and Ms Ana Bărbosu on 6 August 2024, in its amended version of 8 August 2024, is partially upheld.
2. The inquiry submitted on behalf of Ms Jordan Chiles in the Final of the women’s Floor exercise was raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline provided by article 8.5 of the 2024 FIG Technical Regulations and is determined to be without effect.
3. The initial score of 13.666 given to Ms Jordan Chiles in the final of the women’s Floor exercise shall be reinstated.
4. The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique shall determine the ranking of the Final of the women’s Floor exercise and assign the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision.
5. All other requests are dismissed.
So now it’s up to the FIG to determine the final standings using Chiles’ original score?
Basically, and who knows what they’ll decide to do here.
No matter what happens, it seems like the gymnasts are going to be punished for the judges’ poor performance. Had they scored Chiles’ correctly to begin with, there wouldn’t have been anything to challenge.
Does Team USA have anything to say about this?
It sure does.
Joint Statement from USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee regarding the CAS decision on the women’s floor final:
Honestly, it’s tough to say. Aside from the personal heartache of having a medal potentially ripped away on a technicality, she has faced some brutal and racist attacks online.
Because of that, she declared that she’s taking a break from social media.
via instagram.com/jordanchiles
Jazmin Chiles, Jordan Chiles’ sister, says the gymnast was officially stripped of her medal:
The big buzz on Thursday was the announcement of Jordan Chiles. Chiles, after winning a gold and a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris announced she would be returning to UCLA starting this fall.
That is massive news for the Bruins gymnastics program. Having someone of Chiles status leads to many positives for the upcoming team. Head coach Janelle McDonald reacted to the news and could not wait to get started with the Olympian.
“I’m thrilled for Jordan to return to Westwood. Not only has she proven to be one of the best gymnasts in the world, but she has also shown time and time again that she is one of the most supportive and encouraging sportswomen around. She’s an incredible ambassador for NCAA gymnastics and UCLA. Jordan brings passion, heart, hard work and unparalleled energy to the team. And more than that, she shows up authentically as herself, and that’s exactly what a Bruin in!”
The 2024 UCLA Bruins women’s gymnastics season is scheduled to start December 15th with the “Meet The Bruins” event at Pauley Pavilion. They then start competitive meets after the New Year. They start in 2025 in Las Vegas.
While taking in some of this year’s track and field events at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team USA women’s gymnastics superstar Simone Biles shared something absolutely fascinating with Snoop Dogg.
Biles told Snoop Dogg that she’s “never watched any other event before, so this is my first time.” Of course, that surprised the rap legend since Biles is such a monumental figure in Olympics history.
As she’s always been very busy with her gymnastics events, it makes sense that Biles has a busy schedule at any Olympic Games.
However, that this was the first time she’d ever just sat back, relaxed and enjoyed an Olympic sport as a spectator is absolutely wild.
If this really is the last time Biles competes at the Olympics, maybe she’ll have more time in the future to enjoy the Games from the stands.
Lee earned her second medal of the Paris Games on Thursday, and the fifth of her career.
[autotag]Suni Lee[/autotag] will exit the Paris Games with another medal to add to her luggage.
The former Auburn star competed in the All-Around finals Thursday after finishing third in Sunday’s qualifier. She concluded the event by scoring 56.465, high enough to earn a Bronze medal. She finished behind silver medalist Rebeca Andrade from Brazil and gold medalist Simone Biles, her Team USA teammate.
Lee earned the Bronze medal after a stellar floor routine. Her 13.666 score lifted Lee from fourth place into medal status.
The Bronze is the second for Lee in the Paris Games. She won a Gold medal Wednesday after Team USA claimed the top spot in the Women’s finals. In all, Lee holds five Olympic medals including two Gold.
Re-live the exciting moments of Lee’s Bronze medal-winning performance by checking out the best images from Thursday’s event.
Who wants to be the person to tell Simone Biles what she can’t do?
If you’ve spent the past few weeks watching USA Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles flying through the air, you’ve probably had a very silly thought cross your mind:
Can Simone Biles dunk?
Nearly a foot shorter than Spud Webb, Biles’ high-flying acts in her floor routine have basketball fans rethinking what’s possible. Actually, scratch that. Biles has some of the best basketball players in the world rethinking what’s possible.
So let’s do the math. An NBA rim sits at 10 feet high. So let’s be generous and say you need to get to 10-foot-6 to successfully dunk. At 4-foot-8, Biles would need to get about six feet in the air to have a chance. Can Biles reach that height?
She can — and then some. At her peak in the air, Biles flies 12 feet off the ground. And remember, these mats aren’t built to aid anyone’s jump, rather the shock absorption is meant to help the gymnasts with their landings.
Would she be able to reach that height with a basketball? Here’s a better question: Would she even need to if she could just catch a lob and throw it down?
According to Kevin Durant, that’s really no question at all.
I really believe Goat Biles can catch a lob and finish. #bounce
Yep, completely checks out. Biles could probably dunk, at least she has plenty of people convinced she can, anyways.
Update: I asked a D1 gymnast (through a few people) an the answer is "probably". The floor gives cushion and not really bounce, so she thinks Simone Biles can dunk… which is absolutely ridiculous. https://t.co/lWjgzEaLVJ
Can Simone Biles dunk a basketball? Like tiny hands so it’s gotta be a lob, but if we let her flippy-flippy-flip into it, can’t be out of the question right??
Yes, Simone Biles actually pulled out an iced-out goat necklace after winning gold in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around.
Last season, someone made Simone Biles a GOAT hat, and I thought that was truly something. But her new chain might have upped the score. Thursday evening, Simone practically had the floor routine of her life to secure another historic gold medal. Right on cue, she pulled out an absolutely sick necklace with a baby goat on the chain.
YES, A BABY GOAT FOR THE LITERAL GOAT. This is my kind of carrying-on. I have so many questions. Who made the necklace? How long has she had it? Did she seemingly always know she would win gold?! WE LOVE TO SEE IT. NOTHING BUT RESPECT FOR THE GOAT.
Simone Biles shows off her 🐐 necklace after winning gold at the women's gymnastics all-around finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.https://t.co/PHzRJJFQxb
Simone Biles and Suni Lee joyously celebrated together after winning Olympic medals in the women’s individual all-around final, and fans totally loved it.
Oh, my goodness. It wasn’t enough for Simone to absolutely crush the competition Thursday evening after winning her sixth Olympic gold medal in the event. But she also wholesomely celebrated with Suni — who won a well-deserved bronze medal — on the floor in a super heartwarming moment.
Suni’s kidney condition has created some unimaginable hurdles for her, including not being able to train for the Olympics until January of this year. So, seeing her screaming away and jumping with excitement after winning was fantastic, and I can’t stand it.
me watching the gymnastics women's all around finals, knowing how suni lee and simone biles overcame illness and mental health issues: pic.twitter.com/AmkRJBYLcL
If you’re familiar with Simone Biles’ dominance at the Olympics, the American gymnast winning gold in the women’s individual all-around final on Thursday was never in doubt.
And right before her finale, the superstar seemed to know she was about to deliver another remarkable ending.
Right before executing her needed floor routine to beat Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade for the gold medal, NBC cameras captured a subtle smile on Biles’ face as American supporters in the crowd began to roar in support.
Why, it’s almost as if the living legend knew simply executing her routine would notch yet another gold. And that Biles did, comfortably surpassing Andrade for the win. We’re talking about the definition of well-earned and well-deserved confidence here:
Stop what you’re doing right NOW and watch Simone Biles on floor! 🐐 #ParisOlympics
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 1, 2024
In case there was any doubt, Biles is the greatest gymnast of all time. Thursday was just another picture-perfect moment from her that we should really appreciate in all its glory.
Also, poor McKayla Maroney for being put in the crosshairs because of unfortunate spelling.
After the dust of all the online drama finally settled, Biles put the best possible bow on this situation: She seemingly laughed about Skinner finally blocking her on social media.
As the greatest American gymnast of all time, Biles has certainly earned the right to be this petty. Again, for the life of me, I could never understand even passively trying to alienate her.
