Court Denies USA Gymnastics’ Appeal to Revise Jordan Chiles Bronze Medal Decision

Karl Rasmussen | Aug 13, 2024

Jordan Chiles of the United States poses for a photo with her gold and bronze medasl after day three of the gymnastics event finals during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games. / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

USA Gymnastics' efforts to get Jordan Chiles's bronze medal-winning score on the women's floor routine at the 2024 Olympics reinstated hit a snare on Monday.

In a statement issued Monday evening, USA Gymnastics announced that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had rebuked its efforts to overrule the decision that saw Chiles stripped of her bronze medal.

"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," the organization said in a statement. "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 Chiles."

On Sunday, USA Gymnastics submitted new video evidence which it alleges disputes the decision made by the International Olympic Committee to award the bronze medal to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu. Despite such evidence, the CAS informed the organization that its rules don't allow for reconsideration over such an award.

During the woman's floor routine, Chiles's coach Cecile Landi successfully challenged the initial score of 13.666 and saw it improved to 13.766, which moved Chiles into third place. However, a panel of arbitrators ruled that the challenge occurred four seconds after the allotted time limit of one minute, thus overruling the score change and reverting Chiles's jump up the leaderboard.

Despite USA Gymnastics alleging to have video evidence proving Landi submitted the challenge 47 seconds after the ruling, well within the allotted one minute, the CAS indicated it cannot overrule the decision made by the arbitrary panel.

USA Gymnastics made clear it doesn't intend to put this matter to rest and will continue to explore other avenues in order to secure Chiles the bronze medal she deserves.