Could Jordan Chiles lose her bronze medal? Romania protests floor exercise result in Olympic gymnastics

Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles earned silver and bronze, respectively, in the floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Games. But the end results didn't come without their fair share of controversy.

Chiles initially scored out of medal contention, but a successful appeal improved the Team USA gymnast's score enough to allow her to leapfrog the two Romanian gymnasts ahead of her and claim third place. Romania's Ana Barbosu was prepared to celebrate her podium finish when the score change came in, knocking the bronze right out of her hands.

Since the event ended, both Romanian gymnasts and public figures have been vocal about what they view as an unfair turn of events. The story is developing, and it's clear the medal ceremony wasn't the end of women's gymnastics drama from the Olympics this year.

Here's everything you need to know about Romania's protests and how they could affect Chiles' third-place finish.

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Romania protests Olympic floor exercise result

As Chiles received the news of the score change that pushed her into the bronze-medal spot, Barbosu, who was already holding a Romanian flag to celebrate, realized her podium dreams were shot.

Barbosu's teammate, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, also filed an inquiry in the final but did not see her score changed as a result. She received a 0.1 point deduction because her heel allegedly touched out of bounds during her routine. But video evidence is emerging that shows that may not be the case .

After finishing in fifth, Maneca-Voinea voiced her disappointment in the results . In Romanian, she said : "The girl in third place...her landings were a bit lower...I think she may have stepped out of bounds...I had a routine that was much better than hers...what happened was a very weird thing."

Additionally, Mihai Covaliu, president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, sent a letter of protest to the International Gymnastics Federation after the event.

In the letter, Covaliu addresses International Gymnastics Federation president Morinari Watanabe, asking him "to order the re-analysis by the decision-making factors of the case of the Romanian athlete Sabrina Maneca-Voinea regarding the score given to the execution of the exercise in the floor final."

Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu also commented on the situation, saying he will not be attending the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics in protest.

"I have decided not to attend the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics after the scandalous situation in gymnastics, where our athletes were treated in an dishonorable manner. To withdraw a medal earned through honest effort based on a protest that neither the coaches nor top technicians understand is totally unacceptable,” Ciolacu said on Facebook , as translated by Romania Insider .

MORE: USA Olympic gymnastics results

Nadia Comaneci criticizes Olympic gymnastics judges

To make matters more serious, famed Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, most well known for scoring the first perfect 10 in Olympic women's gymnastics history, has been active on social media about the controversy as well.

She responded to a post on X about Barbosu being bumped down after Chiles' score change, saying "I can't believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this...let's protect them."

Additionally, Comaneci has been vocal about what she thinks was a scoring mistake in Maneca-Voinea's routine, twice posting videos of the gymnast's heel apparently not touching the out-of-bounds area during her floor exercise.

How did Jordan Chiles win bronze in the floor exercise?

Initially, Chiles earned a score of 13.666 after her floor exercise. The score placed her in fifth, behind both Romanians and out of medal range.

One of the gymnast's leaps — a move called the Gogean, after Romanian gymnast Gina Gogean — was given a C value, worth 0.30 points. Former Olympian Laure Hernandez explained on the NBC broadcast that Chiles' team felt the move was not scored properly, so they submitted an inquiry.

An inquiry is when a gymnast and/or their team can challenge the score given by the judges. It must be submitted between the time the gymnast's final score is posted and the end of the next gymnast's exercise.

The judges accepted the inquiry and ended up making a change, increasing the C value to a D value and adding 0.10 points to Chiles' final score. Both Romanians marked 13.700 on their routines, and the inquiry allowed Chiles to jump both of them into bronze medal territory.

MORE: Jordan Chiles floor routine score, explained

Floor exercise final standings