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Jordan Chiles’ mother has slammed “racist, disgusting” comments about her daughter online.
The Olympian’s mother, Gina Chiles, took to X (formerly Twitter) on August 9 to hit back at criticism about her daughter. Her post came days after Jordan took home the bronze medal during the women’s gymnastics floor final at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which also saw Simone Biles win silver and Rebeca Andrade win gold.
In her post on X, Gina explained how her daughter has been scrutinized on the internet despite her Olympic success.
“The racist disgusting comments are still happening in 2024. I’m tired of people who say it no longer exists,” Gina wrote. “My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched... and she’s being called disgusting things.”
Many fans praised Gina in the comments section for standing up for her daughter, while also applauding Jordan for how she’s continued to make a name for herself in women’s sports.
“Your daughter is a ray of sunshine. My 9yo twin granddaughters watched her for the first time and they LOVE HER!! Please know that for every hateful comment, there are 10,000 girls your daughter has inspired!!” one fan responded to Gina.
“[Jordan’s] literally an angel on earth. She’s so talented, smart, beautiful, and has a stellar personality like what are these people thinking?!?!!” another posted.
A third user wrote: “The more gifted and talented, the athlete, the more hate they get. Your baby girl is champ and some people can’t accept that.”
Before winning the bronze medal at the individual floor exercise on August 5, Jordan was initially placed in fifth until her coach submitted an inquiry on her score – leading judges to revisit her routine and change her score. Her new score edged out Romania’s Ana Barbosu for third place and earned Jordan a spot on the podium, alongside Biles and Andrade.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) then voided the appeal made by Team USA coach Cecile Landi that saw Jordan’s score increase by 0.1 and move her to third place. The CAS ruling said that the on floor appeal by Landi came outside the one-minute window allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). CAS ruled that the initial finishing order should be restored with Romania’s Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea finishing third and fourth respectively with Jordan back down to fifth.
On August 11, the the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed the decision to strip Jordan of the medal and give it to Barbosu, who was in third place before Jordan’s score was upgraded. USA Gymnastics later released a statement saying it was devastated by the ruling, writing: “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 US Olympic and Paralympic Committee also released a statement confirming that they would appeal against the decision.
Following the CAS ruling on August 10, Jordan revealed on her Instagram Story that she’d be taking a step back from social media. “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you,” she wrote.
Since then, many of Jordan’s friends and teammates have shown their support for the Olympian. Fellow gymnast Suni Lee took her Instagram Stories to share her disappointment with the Olympic judges, writing: “All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?? Completely unacceptable. This is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan.”
“I got your back forever Jo,” she added. “[You] have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an Olympic champion.”
Biles also shared a photo of her and Jordan hugging on her Instagram Story, along with the caption: “Sending you so much love Jordan. Keep your chin up olympic champ! We love you!”
Flavor Flav, who is the sponsor for USA’s women’s and men’s water polo team, also took to X to offer Jordan a different bronze necklace.
“Ayyy YOOOO @ChilesJordan ,,, imma make you a BRONZE CLOCK NECKLACE,,, and that’s something NO ONE else has,!!! Hit me up my girl,,, I gotchu,!!!” he wrote.
