USOPC to appeal call to return Chiles' bronze

PARIS — U.S. Olympic officials say they will appeal a court ruling that resulted in American gymnast Jordan Chiles being asked to return the bronze medal she won in the Paris Olympics floor exercise.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Saturday voided an on-floor appeal by Chiles’ coach that vaulted her to third, saying the appeal came four seconds beyond the one-minute time limit for scoring inquiries.

The International Gymnastics Federation said Saturday night that it would respect the court’s decision and elevate Barbosu to third. The International Olympic Committee confirmed the ruling Sunday, announcing that it was reallocating the bronze from Monday’s women’s floor final to Romanian Ana Barbosu.

“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement Sunday.

The IOC said in a statement that it would be in touch with the USOPC regarding the return of Chiles’ bronze and would work with the Romanian Olympic Committee to discuss a reallocation ceremony honoring Barbosu.

“The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision,” the USOPC said in its statement.

It was unclear the exact process the appeal would take first. The two potential places the USOPC could take the appeal would be to Switzerland’s highest court, the Swiss Tribunal, or the European Court of Human Rights.

The CAS wrote Saturday that the initial finishing order should be restored, with Barbosu third, Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth. The organization added that the FIG should determine the final ranking “in accordance with the above decision” but left it up to the federation to decide who would get the medal behind gold winner Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the U.S.

The FIG said it was the IOC’s call on whether to reallocate the medal. The IOC confirmed Sunday that it would respect the FIG’s decision and seek to have Chiles’ medal returned.

The rapid turn of events adds another layer to what has been a difficult few days for all three athletes.

Romanian gymnastics legend and 1976 Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci feared for Barbosu’s mental health because of the wrenching sequence in which she went from bronze medalist to fourth-place finisher.

“I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them,” Comaneci posted on X earlier in the week.

Comaneci, at the same time, criticized the judges for the way they scored Maneca-Voinea’s routine. The gymnast was docked 0.1 points for stepping out of bounds, but replays showed she narrowly stayed inbounds. Comaneci urged the Romanian Olympic Committee to protest, which it did, but the CAS denied that appeal.

Chiles had hinted at the decision in an Instagram story Saturday, indicating she was heartbroken and was “taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”

Jazmin Chiles, Jordan’s sister, said on Instagram that Chiles was stripped of a medal “not because she wasn’t good enough. But because the judges failed to give her difficulty and forced an inquiry to be made.”

U.S. teammates offered support to Chiles, a two-time Olympian.

“Sending you so much love Jordan,” Biles posted in an Instagram story. “Keep your chin up ‘Olympic champ’ we love you.”

“All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?” six-time Olympic medalist Sunisa Lee added on her Instagram story. “Completely unacceptable, this is awful and i’m gutted for jordan.”

USA Gymnastics had said in a statement Saturday that it was “devastated” by the court’s ruling.

“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,” the organization wrote.

Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea had been left outside the medals in the floor final after finishing with matching scores of 13.700. Barbosu thought she had won bronze over Maneca-Voinea via a tiebreaker — a higher execution score — and began celebrating with a Romanian flag.

Chiles was the last athlete to compete and initially given a score of 13.666 that placed her fifth behind Maneca-Voinea. Landi called for an inquiry after Chiles’ score was announced.

“At this point, we had nothing to lose, so I was like, ‘We’re just going to try,'” Landi said after the awards ceremony. “I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen, but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like, ‘What?'”

Judges awarded the appeal, leapfrogging Chiles past Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea.

Barbosu made it a point after returning home to Romania that she had no problem with Chiles.

“I only want for everybody to be fair. We don’t want to start picking on other athletes of any nationality,” Barbosu told reporters. “We as athletes don’t deserve something like that. We only want to perform as best as we can and to be rewarded based on our performance. The problems lie with the judges, with their calculations and decisions.”

Chiles’ mother, Gina, called out critics in a post, writing she was “tired” of the derogatory comments being leveled at Jordan.

“My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched,” Gina Chiles posted. “And she’s being called disgusting things.”

The uncertainty also tinges what had been a beautiful moment on the medal stand, when Chiles and Biles knelt to honor Andrade after the Brazilian star won her fourth medal in Paris.

“It was just the right thing to do,” Biles said about a moment that soon went viral, with even the Louvre suggesting it might be worthy enough for a spot somewhere in the vicinity of the Mona Lisa.

That memory now carries a complicated and emotional postscript.