As the 2024 Olympic Games officially come to a close Sunday in Paris, the final destination of one medal has yet to be officially settled.
Shortly after International Olympic Committee confirmed Sunday that American gymnast Jordan Chiles needs to return her bronze medal she won in the women's floor final, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee issued a statement declaring it plans to appeal the decision.
"The USOPC will be appealing the recent decision made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) regarding Jordan Chiles," the organization said in a statement Sunday. "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."
When Chiles initially scored a 13.666 in the floor final—which landed her in fifth place in the competition—her coach Cecile Landi appealed the gymnast's difficulty score and won the challenge, boosting her to third place (13.766). However, controversy emerged a few days after the competition when the Romanian Federation of Gymnastics filed a protest stating that Landi challenged the score after the allowed one-minute time limit. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled Saturday in the RFG's favor, dropping Chiles's score back to fifth place, and the IOC ordered the gymnast to return the bronze medal on Sunday.
"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 a statement. "As a result, we were not properly represented or afforded the opportunity to present our case comprehensively.
"Given these circumstances, we are committed to pursuing an appeal to ensure that Jordan Chiles receives the recognition she deserves. We remain dedicated to supporting her as an Olympic champion and will continue to work diligently to resolve this matter swiftly and fairly."
This isn't the first time in Olympics history that a judging error caused controversy around a medal. In the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, a French judge admitted to placing a Russian skating pair first in the competition to order to secure a Russian judge's vote for a French team in a future event. To diffuse the scandal, the IOC awarded two gold medals to Canada and Russia instead of taking the award away from the Russians.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee to Appeal Ruling on Jordan Chiles's Bronze Medal.
