American gymnast Jordan Chiles has shared a statement after her Bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics was taken from her.
Her statement comes after a ruling from The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that her final score for the Women’s Floor Excercise final was invalid — essentially kicking Chiles off the podium and into fifth place.
After a lot of online scrutiny, Chiles took to Instagram with a text post.
“I am overwhelmed by the love I have received over the past few days,” she said, thanking her teammates, coaches, fans and organisations for their “unwavering support during this difficult time”.
“While celebrating my Olympic accomplishments, I heard the devastating news that my bronze medal had been stripped away. I had confidence in the appeal brought by the USAG, who gave conclusive evidence that my score followed all the rules. This appeal was unsuccessful,” she continued.
“I have no words. This decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey.”
Throughout the drama surrounding the point score for the medals, Chiles also became the victim of bullying on social media.
“To add to the heartbreak, the unprompted racially driven attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful,” she said.
“I’ve poured my heart and soul into this sport and I am so proud to represent my culture and my country.”
“I will never waver from my values of competing with integrity, striving for excellence, upholding the values of sportsmanship and the rules that dictate fairness. I have taken pride in cheering on everyone regardless of team or country. Finding joy again has been a culture shift and I love seeing others embrace it. I feel like I have given everyone permission to be authentic to who they are.
“I am now confronted with one of the most challenging moments of my career. Believe me when I say I have had many. I will approach this challenge as I have others — and will make every effort to ensure that justice is done. I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in control will do the right thing.”
Chiles has received an outpouring of support on social media since posting her statement and has been praised for her grace throughout the situation.
Why did Jordan Chiles lose her bronze medal?
The medal-making moment went down at the Women’s Floor Exercise final. Chiles did her routine but moments after, Team USA’s coach Cécile Canqueteau-Landi submitted an appeal to the judges to add 0.1 to her final result. The appeal was successful, effectively bumping Chiles up to third in the competition. As a result, Romania’s Ana Bărbosu was booted off the podium and Chiles was awarded bronze.
When the CAS reviewed this decision, they ruled that the appeal came outside the one-minute window allowed for appeals, hence Chiles’ score shouldn’t have been bumped up. Following this discovery, the 0.1 score was removed and Bărbosu was put back in third place.
“The ranking of the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Finals has been modified accordingly with Ana Barbosu (ROU) ranking third with a score of 13.700,” the CAS wrote in a statement.
Following the ruling, the USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee shared a joint statement.
“The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring,” said the statement.
“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media.
“We condemn the attacks and those who engage, support or instigate them. We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her.”
Chiles’ teammates, Sunisa Lee and Simone Biles have also shared their support for her and sadness over her medal being removed.
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