In a dramatic turn of events, U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles has been ordered to return the bronze medal she won during the 2024 Paris Olympics. This decision follows a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which upheld an appeal filed by the Romanian gymnastics team. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Sunday, just hours before the closing ceremony, that the bronze medal would be reallocated to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu.
The controversy began during the women’s floor exercise final on August 5. Initially, Chiles earned a score of 13.666, placing her fifth, just behind Romania’s Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who both scored 13.700. Barbosu believed she had secured the bronze medal through a tiebreaker based on a higher execution score.
However, Team USA’s gymnastics coach, Cecile Canqueteau-Landi, filed an appeal on the floor, arguing that Chiles’ score had been incorrectly calculated due to the difficulty of her routine. The judges agreed with the appeal and adjusted Chiles’ score by 0.1, pushing her into third place and ahead of Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea.
Following the medal ceremony, the Romanian team filed their own appeal, claiming that the U.S. appeal had been filed outside the one-minute time limit allowed for contesting judges’ scores. CAS ruled in favor of the Romanian team, determining that Team USA’s appeal had indeed been submitted four seconds after the time limit expired. As a result, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) reinstated the original scores, restoring Barbosu to third place, Maneca-Voinea to fourth, and Chiles to fifth.
FIG spokesperson Meike Behrensen confirmed that the responsibility for reallocating medals lies with the IOC, which promptly announced the decision to award the bronze to Barbosu.
In response, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee expressed their dismay at the ruling in a joint statement. They emphasized that the inquiry into Chiles’ score was filed in good faith and in accordance with FIG rules. The statement also condemned the wave of online attacks that Chiles has faced since the appeal process began, calling them “utterly baseless and extremely hurtful.”
“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subject to such treatment. We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her,” the statement read.
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USA Gymnastics further noted that new video evidence shows the appeal was actually filed within the deadline, but this footage was not available during the initial tribunal, leaving the federation unable to present it in time.
Amid the ongoing controversy, Chiles took to Instagram on Saturday, posting a story with four broken heart emojis. She later announced her decision to step away from social media for her mental health. Her teammates, including Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee, have publicly supported her during this challenging time. Lee expressed her frustration on Instagram, criticizing the decision and calling the situation “completely unacceptable,” while Biles shared a heartfelt message, encouraging Chiles to keep her head up.
After the IOC’s announcement, Barbosu also took to Instagram to share her thoughts, offering sympathy to both Chiles and Maneca-Voinea. “I know what you are feeling because I’ve been through the same,” Barbosu wrote. “But I know you’ll come back stronger. I hope from deep of my heart that at the next Olympics all three of us will share the same podium. This is my true dream.”
Barbosu also emphasized that the situation was a result of regulatory failures, not the athletes’ actions, and expressed her hope that the Olympic spirit would prevail despite the controversy.
The floor exercise final marked the conclusion of the artistic gymnastics competition in Paris, where Chiles and Team USA had already secured a gold medal in the team event, a triumph they dubbed part of their “redemption tour” following a tumultuous experience at the 2021 Tokyo Games. In the floor exercise, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade took home the gold, while Biles earned the silver, making it the first all-Black podium in women’s Olympic gymnastics history.
