Jordan Chiles could lose her Olympic bronze medal on the floor after a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) judge ruled in favor of the two Romanian gymnasts on August 10.
Chiles, 23, won bronze in the floor final, her first individual Olympic medal, on Monday, August 5. She initially finished the competition in fifth place, based on the judges’ score, but her coach quickly sent a successful query decision that landed her on the podium.
The judges agreed with trainer Cecile Landi that Chiles’ weight score was too low, especially for a jump that involved performing a mid-air split while spinning 540 degrees.
Chiles advanced to third place, ahead of Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosa — who initially won bronze — and Sabrina Maneca-Voine.
The Romanian Olympic Committee protested the decision to CAS, which on Saturday decided to reinstate Chiles’ original score of 13.666. That put her back in fifth place, below the Romanian gymnasts who both finished with 13,700 points.
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Ana Barbosa.
Daniela Porcelli/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
“The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique will determine the standings in the women’s floor exercise final and award the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision,” the CAS ruling said.
USA Gymnastics expressed its disappointment with the decision in a statement shared with PEOPLE.
“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding the women’s floor exercise. The investigation into the weight value of Jordan Chiles’ floor routine was submitted in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring . ”
Before the verdict was announced, Chiles posted a series of heartbroken emojis on her Instagram stories. After it was published, she added that she was retiring from social media.
“I am taking this time to remove myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”
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Jordan Chiles.
Jordan Chiles/Instagram
USA Gymnastics added in a statement that Chiles had received hateful messages online accusing her of being a cheater, which her mom called out on Friday.
“During the appeals process, Jordan was subjected to consistent, completely unfounded and extremely hurtful attacks on social media,” USA Gymnastics said. “No athlete should be subjected to such treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who participated in, supported or encouraged them. We commend Jordan for acting with integrity on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her.”
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The day after the competition, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee announced on Facebook that they “sent a letter of protest to the International Gymnastics Federation… to re-evaluate the objection to Sabrina Voinea Manec’s floor exercises.”
“Mediating in the case of Romanian sport at the international level, its public declaration of withdrawal from this sport as a result of today’s decision morally obliges the decision-makers to re-analyze, justify and communicate the final decision,” the committee wrote. in the post.
Chiles’ U.S. team coach Cecile Landi on Thursday rejected accusations that the gymnast had cheated and said she believed the judges made the right decision when they re-evaluated Chiles’ score.
“Do I feel bad for the Romanian athlete? Of course I want to!” she wrote. “It was so sad and heartbreaking to see, but that’s sport!”
“Jordan won this bronze medal and he didn’t steal anything from anybody,” she continued. “I was simply doing my job and fighting for my athlete.”
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Source: HIS Education