The Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu has officially received the bronze medal that was originally awarded to Jordan Chiles, after a weeks-long saga.
On Aug. 16, Barbosu received the medal and posed for photos in a ceremony in Bucharest, Romania, but she acknowledged that the moment wasn't all positive.
"I can’t help but think about Sabrina [Maneca-Voinea] and Jordan right now," the 18-year-old athlete said (via E! News). "It’s a difficult situation for us, with so many uncertainties and overwhelming emotions. I hope everyone understands that we have not done anything wrong at the Olympics."
It's been a long journey of heartbreak for the American gymnast Chiles, who received the bronze medal for the women's gymnastics floor final at the Paris Olympics.
Though Chiles' score of 13.666 originally placed her fifth in the event, behind Barbosu in third and her fellow Romanian gymnast Maneca-Voinea in fourth, the Team USA coach Cecile Landi filed an inquiry related to Chiles' difficulty score. Landi felt that the gymnast had not deserved a particular point deduction, with the judges ultimately agreeing and bringing her final score up to 13.766. She then received the bronze medal for that event and participated in the medal ceremony with her teammate Simone Biles and the Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade.
However, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation subsequently filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) claiming that Coach Landi's inquiry had not been filed within the requisite one-minute time frame. CAS ended up ruling in favor of Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea, which brought Chiles back down to fifth place. On Aug. 10, it was officially revealed that the American would lose her medal.
USA Gymnastics later submitted "video evidence" to CAS which they said proved Landi had in fact filed her inquiry within the one-minute window, but the organization did not consider the appeal.
Many USA Gym fans felt the decision was unfair to Chiles, and even Flavor Flav got involved—commissioning a bronze clock necklace for the athlete to show his support.
USA gonna Fight the Powers that be,,, in the meantime between time,,,Imma always a man of my word @ChilesJordan https://t.co/evxFPV0YEd pic.twitter.com/rz72uZeWEzAugust 13, 2024
Last week, Chiles spoke out about losing the medal, telling her Instagram followers, "This decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey."
She added, "I am now confronted with one of the most challenging moments of my career," but also expressed her gratitude to her collaborators and supporters.
