Jordan Chiles will not have her bronze medal reinstated, it seems.
On Monday, USA Gymnastics released a statement informing their followers that the appeal they made to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for Chiles to be handed back the medal that was stripped from her was denied.
"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," the statement read. "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."
Commenters showed up by the truckload in support of Chiles, with one person writing, "Absolutely ridiculous that she is suffering the consequences of a judging error, and now that is has been evidently proven the initial inquiry of late contesting was not true, she still has to suffer??? Keep backing your girl up USAGYM!"
Someone else wrote, "They’re making it up as they go along and making a mockery of gymnastics. I hope Jordan Chiles is being smothered with love and support. Thank you for fighting for her"
Chiles was awarded the bronze medal in the gymnastics women's floor final at the Paris Olympics, after her coach Cecile Landi submitted an inquiry into her score. The American gymnast had originally been given a score of 13.666, which was bumped up to 13.766 when the judging panel agreed with Landi that Chiles had not deserved a specific point deduction.
However, the gymnasts who had originally placed third and fourth in the competition, Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Manexa-Voinea of Romania, argued that Landi's inquiry request had been submitted beyond the one-minute time frame required by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
CAS eventually ruled in the Romanian athletes' favor, and Chiles was stripped of her medal.
But on Sunday, USA Gymnastics revealed that they had submitted a letter and "video evidence" to CAS, which they said proved the inquiry had indeed been requested within the one-minute time frame. Sadly, according to the organization's latest statement, this evidence has not been taken into consideration by CAS at time of writing.
