Tension Rises In Romanian Gymnastics Team Despite Jordan Chiles Decision

The Jordan Chiles medal controversy did not just affect one Romanian gymnast. As a matter of fact, Chiles leapfrogged two of them, Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea, when the American gymnast's score was changed by the judges during the controversial floor final of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Chiles, who initially earned a final score of 13.666, had 0.1 points added to her tally after her camp successfully challenged the difficulty score given for the routine. This resulted in Chiles jumping to third with a revised score of 13.766, while Barbosu and Voinea were relegated to fourth and fifth, respectively.

In a bizarre twist, the aforementioned challenge from Chiles' camp was overturned after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) determined that the inquiry came four seconds after the one-minute review deadline. This decision came after the Romanian Olympic and Sport Committee appealed the challenge, which ultimately led to Chiles' final score being brought back down to 13.666.

This then led to the International Olympic Committee, the body which is responsible for medal allocations, demanding that Chiles return her bronze medal, which in turn will be given to Barbosu, who was deemed the rightful third-place winner.

It is worth noting, however, that Barbosu and Voinea, the two Romanian gymnasts, both finished with a tie score of 13.700. However, it was Barbosu who won the tie-breaker due to a higher execution score.

Here's where it gets interesting. Voinea, like Chiles, also filed an appeal to the judges during the competition, which was rejected. Her camp's argument was that the 0.1-point deduction that was applied to Voinea because she stepped out of bounds was, in fact, erroneous.

Based on video evidence presented by Voinea's camp, the 17-year-old remained on the mat throughout her routine, which serves as a reason to believe that she should not have been penalized with a point deduction.

Without the penalty, Voinea would have finished with a final score of 13.800, which would have placed her at third. In this scenario, it would be Voinea, and not Barbosu, who would have been awarded the bronze medal.

Voinea's mother, Camelia Voinea, who herself is an Olympic medalist, has been vocal about her belief that it's her daughter who's the rightful owner of the bronze medal. In a recent Facebook post, Camelia doubled down on this claim by sharing a social media post that claims that "Sabrina is the one who should of receive the bronze medal with 13.8 because she did not step out of bounds."

"Thank you for your opinion!," Camelia wrote in her post.

Voinea's camp has nothing against Barbosu. However, tension appears to be rising within the Romanian gymnastics camp amid Voinea's refusal to let this issue go.

At the end of the day, you can't really blame Voinea or her mother for fighting tooth and nail. After all, it does appear that they are well within their rights to feel aggrieved after they were able to present compelling evidence backing their claim. In their mind, that Sabrina Voinea is the rightful owner of that bronze medal.

Whatever the case might be, what is clear here is that this issue isn't going away anytime soon.

Related: Olympic Legend Nadia Comaneci Slams 'Attacks' On Jordan Chiles, Romanian Gymnasts

Related: Simone Biles' Subtle Reaction To Emotional Jordan Chiles Statement Says It All

Related: USA Gymnastics Makes Announcement Amid Jordan Chiles Medal Controversy