USA gymnast Jordan Chiles saw her hopes for a bronze medal in floor at this year's Olympics go up in smoke after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided an inquiry from the gymnast's coach which saw her rise above Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea — and thereby into the podium places.
The appeal, brought forth by Chiles' longtime coach, Cecile Landi, argued that Chiles should have been awarded an extra 0.1 after completing a Gogean leap — named after Romanian gymnast Gina Gogean. The move was initially graded C-value, receiving 0.30 points for its execution. Landi's appeal prompted judges to increase the technique to D-value, resulting in a 0.1-point improvement which vaulted Chiles into medal contention.
On Saturday, CAS ruled that Landi's appeal was invalid, having taken place outside of the one-minute window permitted by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). CAS also recommended that Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea's third- and fourth-place finishes be restored. The Romanian Olympic Committee initially asked for three bronze medals to be issued.
Chiles had plenty to say about the matter on social media. So, too, did her colleagues and members of her family.
Here's the latest on the controversy taking center stage at the tail end of this year's Olympics.
What happened to Jordan Chiles?
Chiles appears to be in jeopardy of losing the bronze medal she obtained during the floor exercise finals of this year's Olympics. She was initially given the medal after judges approved her coach's 0.1-point appeal for one of the techniques that Chiles completed during her performance.
Chiles' showing was first scored as a 13.666, good for fifth place in the final standings. Landi's appeal brought it up to 13.766, higher than the matching 13.700 scores Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea were handed for their displays on the mat. Barbosu would've taken the bronze, in that scenario, as she claimed a tiebreaker over her teammate for a higher execution score.
CAS's announcement opens the door for Chiles to have her bronze medal stripped and returned to Barbosu, who initially thought she had won before news of the judge's ruling was made public.
It's important to note that only the International Olympic Committee determines medal allocation for Olympic athletes. As such, the responsibility of determining whether Chiles will have to return her award belongs to it.
Landi's appeal was determined to have taken place four seconds after the allotted time.
FIG announced its intention to restore the original results of the floor exercise final, placing Chiles in fifth place behind Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea. That doesn't ensure that she'll have to return her medal, though.
Jordan Chiles, others react to CAS, FIG rulings
Chiles, hinting at the decision in an Instagram story post, revealed she was heartbroken over CAS and FIG's announcements and was "taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you."
Chiles' teammate, Suni Lee, was blunt in her reaction, posting to Instagram story the following:
"all this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?? completely unacceptable. this is awful and i'm gutted for Jordan. ... u have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an olympic champion."
USA Gymnastics was similarly peeved, claiming that Landi's appeal was filed in good faith.
Chiles has reportedly endured a torrent of racist remarks in the aftermath of the judge's initial decision, with many directing racist remarks at her. Her mother, Gina Chiles, disavowed such statements in a strongly worded statement posted on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.
"I’m tired of people who say it no longer exists," Gina Chile wrote. "My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched ... and she’s being called disgusting things."
Chiles' sister, Jazmin Chiles, offered similar analysis.
"Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well," Jazmin Chiles said.
It's unclear what the timetable will be for the IOC to determine whether to force Chiles to return her medal or not.
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