Olympic Gymnast Jordan Chiles Must Return Bronze Medal, Appeal Denied

United States Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles has been told that she must return the bronze medal she received at the Paris Olympics following her women’s floor exercise.

On Monday, a statement from USA Gymnastics said that they will continue to fight for Chiles to keep her medal, but that its appeal was “denied by a Court of Arbitration,” the Associated Press reported.

“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,” USA Gymnastics 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,” the statement added.

Chiles performed in Paris and initially she received a score for her floor exercise of 13.666, putting her in fifth place behind Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who both had final scores of 13.700, as previously reported.

The USA coach Cecile Landi argued that the judges had inaccurately assessed the difficulty level of the routine, and they agreed, bumping Chiles’ score up to 13.766. This put her in 3rd place ahead of the Romanian gymnasts and earning her a Bronze medal.

USA Gymnastics has submitted additional evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. pic.twitter.com/GOKymbAtcq

— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) August 11, 2024

However, Romania disputed the ruling, saying the American team’s complaint wasn’t submitted within the 60-second window that was required. On Sunday, the IOC [International Olympics Committee] announced its decision to strip Chiles of her bronze medal and give it to Barbosu.

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USA Gymnastics then submitted “a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, conclusively establishing that Head Coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of the score, within the 1-minute deadline required by FIG rule,” the statement read.

It also noted that the “time-stamped, video evidence” was “not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it.”

The letter requested that the “ruling be revised and Chiles’ bronze-medal score of 13.766 reinstated.”

USA Gymnastics could try to appeal to the Swiss Tribunal or the European Court of Human Rights, the AP noted.

Chiles has remained mostly quiet on the controversy, telling her Instagram followers on Sunday, “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”

Amanda Harding contributed to this piece.

Related: USA Gymnastics Challenges Demand For Jordan Chiles To Return Bronze Medal, Says It Has Receipts