Despite “conclusive” video proof that her coach submitted a request to reevaluate her score within the allowed time frame, it looks like Jordan Chiles won’t get to hang on to the bronze medal she was so excited to win in Paris.
The controversial back-and-forth has been brewing for a week—here's a primer on Technical Gymnastics Scoring Rules—but the long and short of it is that despite USA Gymnastics presenting new evidence, the court that arbitrates sports scores says it’s not overturning its decision to nullify the point increase that won Chiles the bronze. USA Gymnastics issued a statement that it will continue fighting, though this case could go on for years, per the Associated Press.
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For their parts, the athletes aren't fighting at all. Chiles left social media to protect her mental health, and Ana Bărbosu, the original bronze medalist on whose behalf the Romanian Olympic Committee challenged Chiles’s coach’s inquiry, wants to share the stage with Chiles at the next Olympics. The International Olympic Committee apparently wants Chiles to send her medal back, but the Romanian Gymnastics Federation actually doesn’t, and says the bronze should be shared between Chiles, Bărbosu, and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, the gymnast (also Romanian) whose score tied Bărbosu’s.
Jordan Chiles was stripped of her bronze medal on Sunday after an appeal from Romania's Olympic Committee.
So, what’s next? We don’t know. It’s unclear if Chiles has sent her medal back, and there’s little precedent for these cases on the Olympic level; previous medal-returnees typically lose their status because they were caught using banned substances.
Meanwhile, Americans are rallying around Chiles, including Olympics enthusiast and rapper Flavor Flav, who commissioned a bronze version of his iconic clock necklace as a gift for Chiles. The gymnast’s mother, Gina, responded to the gesture on social media, writing, “Thank you. Means the world. She's not on socials right now as you can imagine. I’ll share it with her. ”
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The piece was created by Rock N Stones by Kellz, Flav’s go-to clockmakers.
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At least we’ll always have those pictures of Chiles and Simone Biles bowing to Rebeca Andrade, the gold medalist from Brazil?
One is reminded of the line from underrated gymnastics flick Stick It, in which a character observes, “This is where the sport loses fans. The system, the judging, it’s too confusing. The crowd just saw a spectacular skill, they don’t understand why a gymnast is not rewarded for it. That’s wrong.” It is. Jordan Chiles, you are still that girl.
