Romanian Gymnast’s Mother Calls for Appeal After FIG President’s Jordan Chiles Apology

International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) president Morinari Watanabe’s apology amid the Jordan Chiles scoring controversy was likely intended to do damage control, but it’s had the opposite effect.

Since Watanabe blamed the Chiles’ “tragedy” on the lack of technology to ensure gymnasts were given the correct scores for their routines, the mother of Romanian gymnast Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who finished in fourth place in the floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics, believes its reason enough for her daughter’s score to be reexamined.

“FIG President Morinari Watanabe has just acknowledged the tragedy in the floor final of the PARIS 2024 Olympic Games, referring to the technology used in the competition,” Camelia Voinea exclaimed in a Facebook post. “Since he acknowledges this, it means that Sabrina was unfairly deducted that tenth [of a point] and I ask the authorities and the parties involved to do justice. No institution in the world has the right to be above the TRUTH.”

Maneca-Voinea and Barbosu both finished with 13.700 scores; however, the bronze medal went to Barbosu via the tie-breaker, which was settled by having a higher execution score.

The 17-year-old Maneca-Voinea was docked 0.100 points for her allegedly touching out of bounds during her routine. However, video replay showed she stayed in bounds during the moment in question.

Voinea’s mother is now claiming had her daughter’s score been accurately calculated, she would be the bronze-medal winner with Barbosu finishing in fourth place and Chiles in fifth.

After Chiles was initially awarded the medal, Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee president Mihai Covaliu sent a letter of protest to the FIG contesting the event’s results.

Covaliu stated a “re-analysis by the decision-making factors” was necessary after video evidence showed Maneca-Voinea was unfairly docked points that would have led to her winning the bronze medal.

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