PARIS — The Court of Arbitration for Sport, global sport’s supreme court, seemingly opened the door for American gymnast Jordan Chiles to be stripped of an Olympic bronze medal controversially awarded to her in the floor exercise.
CAS in a ruling Saturday said Chiles’ original score in the floor exercise competition should be reinstated and that the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, sport’s international governing body, should award the medals in accordance to CAS decision on the scoring.
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won the floor title with a score of 14.166 on Monday ahead of Team USA’s Simone Biles at 14.133. When the initial final scores were posted on the arena scoreboard, Romania’s Ana Barbosu was listed in third place at 13.700 points with Chiles, Biles’ training partner who competed for UCLA, fifth at 13.666.
But after the U.S. coaches requested a scoring inquiry into whether Chiles was given full credit for all her elements during her routine, her score was adjusted to 13.766, giving her her first individual medal in two Olympics and completing the first Olympic gymnastics medal podium featuring three Black women.
Romania, however, later filed its own appeal with CAS, maintaining the U.S. appeal was not made within the one-minute window after Chiles’ routine to file for an inquiry.
CAS, in a statement Saturday, said “The initial score of 13.666 given to Ms Jordan Chiles in the final of the women’s Floor exercise shall be reinstated” and that the “Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique shall determine the ranking of the Final of the women’s Floor exercise and assign the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision.”
Chiles has been the target of online bullying and harassment since the floor exercise competition.
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“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise,” USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a joint statement Saturday night. “The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring.
“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 condemn the attacks and those who engage, support or instigate them. We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her.”
