Olympics-U.S. gymnast Chiles appeals decision that stripped her of bronze medal

By Rory Carroll

(Reuters) - U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles on Monday filed an appeal in the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland to overturn a decision that stripped her of her Olympic bronze medal in the women's floor event at the Paris Games.

Chiles was forced to give up the medal when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last month ruled in favour of an appeal by Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu, who was subsequently awarded the bronze.

Barbosu and her team had appealed to CAS that an inquiry filed by the U.S. team over the results of the floor exercise, which led to Chiles's initial score being revised upwards, had been registered four seconds after the one-minute deadline allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation.

The success of the Romanian appeal meant Chiles's score was reduced and she fell out of third place behind Brazilian winner Rebeca Andrade and silver medallist Simone Biles, her American teammate.

In the appeal, lawyers for Chiles argue that CAS refused to consider video footage that "unequivocally proves" that the inquiry was submitted in time.

They also argue that Hamid Gharavi, the president of the CAS panel that revoked Chiles's bronze medal, had a conflict of interest.

"Mr. Gharavi has acted as counsel for Romania for almost a decade and was actively representing Romania at the time of the CAS arbitration," attorneys for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLC said in a press release.

The lawyers also said that Chiles was only notified of the CAS hearing a few hours before it began, not giving her the necessary time to prepare a defense.

"From start to finish, the procedures leading to the CAS panel's decision were fundamentally unfair, and it is no surprise that they resulted in an unjust decision," the lawyers said.

USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralymic Committee all voiced their support for Chiles's appeal.

A decision from the court is expected in the next four to six months, a source told Reuters.

In an Instagram post last month, Chiles called the CAS decision "unjust" and a "significant blow."

The Olympian, who also won team gold with Biles in Paris, has said she would fight on and holds out hope that she will ultimately prevail.

"I am now confronted with one of the most challenging moments of my career," she said in the post.

"I will approach this challenge as I have others -- and I will make every effort to ensure that justice is done. I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in control will do the right thing."

(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Pritha Sarkar)