Women’s gymnastics saved the drama for last at the Paris Olympics this summer.
In a tense floor final on Monday that saw Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and Team USA’s Simone Biles take gold and silver respectively, it was surprisingly the bronze medal result that led to the most dramatic and theatrical finish of the competition.
Romania’s Ana Barbosu appeared to win bronze with a score of 13.7 after Team USA’s Jordan Chiles, the last gymnast in the rotation, finished with a score of 13.666. However, USA Gymnastics coaches submitted a late inquiry to review Chiles’s score after her performance, and the judges ended up giving her an extra one-tenth to edge out Barbosu and bump her into third place with a score of 13.766.
Chiles’s reaction once the final results were announced was priceless. She couldn’t hold back her tears as she embraced her coach and was also pulled in for a hug by Biles. Her USA teammates, Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee, were seen in the stands visibly stunned at what just happened.
Jordan Chiles had the BEST reaction when she found out she won bronze in the women's floor final! 🥹🥉 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/4hQl4wtF69
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 5, 2024
NBC analyst John Roethlisberger explained why Chiles’s score was corrected after the fact:
“The element in question is called a tour jete full, and in the team qualification in the team final, [Chiles] did not get credit for the skill. She has to make a complete twist all the way around, so she should finish back toward the other direction. In the initial evaluation of the skill, the judge did not give her credit for that… Her coaches said, ‘We thought she did it much better in the final, so we thought we had nothing to lose, let’s put in an inquiry.’ And the judges decided to give it to her. That’s your one-tenth, and that’s the difference in the medal.”
Monday’s floor final gave Chiles her second medal of the Games and the first individual medal of her Olympic career. She previously helped Team USA win gold in the women’s team final.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jordan Chiles in Tears After Winning Bronze Medal Due to Late Inquiry in Floor Final.
