Jordan Chiles could potentially see her disputed bronze medal "reinstated" following a new submission of evidence from USA Gymnastics.
"USA Gymnastics on Sunday formally submitted a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, conclusively establishing that Head Coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of the score, within the 1-minute deadline required by FIG [International Gymnastics Federation] rule," the sporting organization said in a statement shared with several media outlets on Sunday.
"The time-stamped, video evidence submitted by USA Gymnastics Sunday evening shows Landi first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was originally posted."
This submission of video evidence from USAG follows a drama-filled few days for Chiles, who saw herself stripped of her bronze medal for the women's floor final by an Olympic court ruling over the weekend.
In the event, Chiles initially finished in fifth place with a score of 13.666, with the Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu in third place. But coach Cecile Landi filed an inquiry into Chiles' score, because she felt a particular point deduction to the athlete's overall score had not been deserved.
The inquiry was accepted, and Chiles' score was bumped up to 13.766, which put her in third position and earned her the bronze medal.
But Barbosu and her teammate Sabrina Manexa-Voinea, who initially finished in fourth place, argued that the inquiry had been requested beyond the one-minute time frame and therefore was not valid, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) eventually ruling in their favor. This led to Chiles' bronze medal being reallocated to Barbosu.
"The basis for the CAS ruling on Friday striking down the inquiry was that 'The inquiry submitted on behalf of Ms. Jordan Chiles in the Final of the women’s floor exercise was raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline provided by article 8.5 of the 2024 FIG Technical Regulations and is determined to be without effect,'" USAG's statement continued.
"The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it."
The organization requested of the CAS that the "ruling be revised and Chiles’ bronze-medal score of 13.766 reinstated," since they claim they have video evidence that the one-minute rule was not broken.
The CAS now needs to review the new evidence and come to a decision about who of Chiles or Barbosu will retain the bronze medal.
