Jordan Chiles: Ruling puts Olympic bronze in jeopardy

The women's gymnastics team is often one of the more exciting parts of Olympic coverage. Unfortunately for Jordan Chiles, the latest twist not only adds to the attention, but it's not what anyone would have hoped for. The UCLA Bruins athlete was initially off the podium following her floor routine. But her quick-thinking coaches appealed, and the judges agreed, which gave her a needed scoring boost. This proved to be the difference, as the American then had enough to earn the bronze.

However, according to a media-released document from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the timely action of the appeal may have been too late. Based on the rules and as explained in the document, the deadline for such an inquiry is within one minute. However, considering that the action took place at 64 seconds, it falls outside of the agreed-upon guidelines. The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, which runs and organizes gymnastics at this level, was told to follow the ruling and decision of the panel.

From the perspective of these decision makers, the score was to reflect what it looked like before the appeal, and consequently, the FIG was told to reassign the medals in accordance with the updated rankings and rulings. Naturally, this was a strong declaration from an important player in this space, and an official response from the mentioned party in the document has yet to be issued.

But at this moment it looks as if the holdup of a mere four seconds is what will ultimately decide who will officially be able to keep the medal for this particular event. The document concluded by saying that this decision was final and that anything else in terms of an appeal or looking further into this specifically would not be entertained. Consequently, more likely than not, the path to Jordan Chiles keeping her bronze is looking unlikely.

However, it's worth noting that the gymnast has not been requested to and has not been forced to abdicate her medal as of yet. But as of now, the official scores reflect that she did not come in third, and instead they show Romanian competitor Ana Barbosu as the third highest score from the event. Furthermore, Barbosu's teammate, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, had an identical score but lost out on a tiebreaker, leaving her currently in fourth. Part of the appeal that was initiated by the Romanian side was for both of their competitors to share the third rank.

However, this was dismissed out of hand without much of a further explanation being warranted from the perspective of the governing bodies. Either way, while the verdict was somewhat quick to come, the ultimate ramifications of what this will mean in terms of potentially giving back the bronze are yet to be seen.

Four seconds being the difference for Jordan Chiles

Photo byPavel KalenikonUnsplash

It's silly that such a small technicality is what will determine the final gymnastics standing. The letter of the law, the Romanian team, and consequently, the FIG and arbitration court are correct in looking to uphold the agreed upon rules and regulations. However, the spirit of which this rule was trying to legislate out was to prevent Olympians and their teams from potentially filing appeals and dragging out something hours or even days after the ceremony.

Unfortunately, if Team USA is forced to give up a medal due to this technicality, it is correct. But ultimately, it is the wrong decision. The fact of the matter is that regardless of when exactly the paperwork or appeal itself was filed, a judging mistake had been made. And this was a mistake that was more or less caught in the moment and corrected.

If Jordan Chiles is forced to give up this bronze medal, it will reward the wrong decision and encourage future competitors to look for clerical loopholes to gain an advantage, rather than having the final results be a reflection of what happened during the routine itself.