Paris Olympics: The $351.10 gamble that won Jordan Chiles a bronze medal

PARIS — Make no mistake, Jordan Chiles won a bronze medal in the floor final Monday because of her talent and work ethic.

It is also, however, because an eagle-eyed coach thought she saw a mistake in the judges scoring and — in a unique to gymnastics way — was willing to gamble $351.10 of USA Gymnastics' money to find out if she was correct.

When Chiles’ initial score in the floor final flashed across the screen, disappointment overwhelmed the gymnast. Her 13.666 left her in fifth place and off the podium for the individual medal that Chiles had long worked toward.

However her coach, Cecile Landi, thought the judges may have missed — and thus didn’t credit Chiles — with a split leap — or a tour jete full in gymnastics parlance — she performed (just not particularly well) during her routine. And that meant something.

A gymnastics score consists of two elements — execution and difficulty. The execution is whatever the judges determine. It is subjective and not open to appeal.

The difficulty, though, is cut and dried. Without the split leap, Chiles was given 5.800 on difficulty. With it, she’d get a 5.900 and thus rise into third place, good enough bronze.

So Landi filed an “inquiry” to ask the judges to review the routine and see if they missed the skill.

In gymnastics, this process is far more elaborate than in any other sport — which often sinks to the level of a coach screaming at the ref to check the replay or, in the NFL, a clumsily thrown red flag on the field.

In this case, Landi had one minute from Chiles’ score being posted to make a “verbal inquiry” which then must be electronically “confirmed” within four minutes. Landi also had to agree a payment to the Federation of International Gymnastics in the amount of 300 Swiss Francs — or $351.10 in U.S. dollars — if the inquiry was denied.

The rule was created to keep coaches from challenging every single decision — sort of the way you can lose a timeout in the NFL or actually give your opponent a power play in the NHL.

The price for inquiry rises with each successive loss — $585.17 U.S. for a second denial and $1,170.33 U.S. for each one after that.

USA Gymnastics lost two inquiries during the men’s competition and had to pay FIG a total of $895.27, USA Gymnastics spokesperson Jill Geer confirmed.

Here at the Paris Olympics, the money is agreed to be sent electronically after a denial. This “just Venmo me” ethos is a breath of modernity into an old-school process.

In past Olympics and at many smaller tournaments, the FIG requires the coach to lay out the cash immediately. No one trusts anyone in gymnastics, especially with what is essentially a gambling tab. That routinely lead to the unique visual of a coach, often angry in the moment, wipping out a wallet and throwing cash at a judge.

There is also a competitive risk for the gymnast because the review could lead to a lesser score as well if judges notice they actually over-scored something.

Since Chiles was already in fifth, that didn’t matter though.

“At this point,” Landi said, “we had nothing to lose so I was like, ‘We’re just going to try.'”

Sure, nothing to lose other than that $350.10 of USAG's cold, hard cash, of course.

“I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen,” Landi said of the inquiry.

Yet it did. Landi had her back to the scoreboard but Chiles was watching closely. When the extra 0.1 came through, she was elevated to bronze, emitting a huge shout of delight.

“When I heard her scream, I turned around and was like 'What?'" Landi said.

“I was so excited,” Chiles said after, clutching her bronze medal.

So was the USA Gymnastics accountant.