One of the most memorable moments from the 2024 Summer Olympics now has a new (and unfortunate) meaning.
A Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) judge on Saturday formally stripped American gymnast Jordan Chiles of the bronze medal she had won on the floor exercise in Paris.
The event, held on August 5, ended in an unusual way, with Chiles initially finishing fifth according to the judges’ scores.
However, USA Gymnastics coach Cecil Landy immediately submitted an inquiry to those judges… noting that Chiles’ difficulty score was too low, especially for a jump that involved a 540-degree turn in the air.
The judges agreed and bumped Jordan’s score up to one, putting her on the podium alongside silver medalist Simone Biles.
But a day later, the Romanian Olympic Committee protested the decision, and on August 10, a CAS judge ruled that Randy submitted the investigation within 1 minute and 4 seconds… 4 seconds too late to be calculated.
As a result, the bronze medal was reassigned to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu.
Chiles has yet to comment on the shocking decision.
However, Biles wrote via Instagram Story on Saturday, August 10: “Sending you lots of love Jordan.” “Hold your head high, Olympian! We love you!
Biles and Chiles teammate Suni Lee added:
“This is all about the athletes, but what about the judges? Totally unacceptable. This is terrible and I feel bad for you, Jordan. I will always support you, Joe. You will always be an Olympic champion.
Teammate Hezly Rivera wrote: “Love you @jordanchiles and will always support you.”
Meanwhile, Jordan Chiles’ sister is outraged by the controversy.
“In Olympic history, no one has ever been stripped of a medal because of this,” Jazmine Chiles responded on Instagram. “There are only two ways to take away your medal: cheating or doping. She did neither.
Added Jazmin:
“Four seconds. She was stripped of her bronze medal in four seconds, and if the judges had done their job, that wouldn’t have had to happen.
“Racism is real, it exists, it’s still alive and well.”
Before Chiles was stripped of his bronze medal, USA Gymnastics released this statement:
“The investigation into the difficulty level of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise was initiated in good faith and we believe that it is in compliance with FIFA rules to ensure accurate scoring.
“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to persistent, baseless and hurtful attacks on social media.
“No athlete should be treated like this. We condemn these attacks and those who participated in, supported or incited them.
“We commend Jordan for her integrity on and off the court and we will continue to support her.”
