UCLA Gymnast Jordan Chiles Loses Appeal to Retain Bronze Medal

Sam Garcia | Aug 13, 2024

Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports

The battle for a spot on the 2024 Paris Olympics artistic gymnastics floor final podium continues, with two countries fiercely advocating for their athletes. 

Initially, Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu was the bronze finisher as she scored a 13.700 with her exercise. USA gymnast Jordan Chiles notched a 13.666, which landed the two-time Olympian in fifth place. What happens next is where the controversy lies.

Chiles performed a tour jeté full in her routine, but it was credited as a tour jeté half. While Bărbosu celebrated medalling for the first time in her career, the USA Gymnastics coach Cecile Landi submitted an inquiry about Chiles’ difficulty score to the judges on behalf of Chiles. Following the inquiry, the American gymnasts’ score was increased to 13.766, passing Bărbosu and Romanian gymnast Sabrina Voinea into a bronze finish.

However, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and Bărbosu quickly submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport challenging Chiles’ inquiry. It was argued that the inquiry was submitted four seconds after the one-minute time limit, which would mean that Chiles’ revised score would be voided.  

A decision by the International Olympic Committee was made following the appeal, crowning Bărbosu as the bronze medalist in the event and requiring Chiles to return her medal. 

But, Team USA was not ready to give up. The American team submitted a second appeal on Sunday that included video footage with time stamps, proving the inquiry was submitted within the deadline.

"The time-stamped, video evidence submitted by USA Gymnastics Sunday evening shows Landi first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was originally posted," USA Gymnastics said in its statement. “The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it."

On Monday, it was reported that the Court of Arbitration for Sport refused to consider the new evidence. Team USA expressed its disappointment in a statement.

"USA Gymnastics was notified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday that their rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented. We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan," read a statement.

As Team USA continues to fight for Chiles, the UCLA gymnastics product is no longer an individual Olympic medalist until further notice.