Jordan Chiles has officially been stripped of her bronze medal in the floor exercise from the Paris Olympics following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on August 10.
The decision came after Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu, who had initially been awarded the bronze, and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea successfully challenged the outcome of the floor final held on August 5.
The CAS judge ruled in favor of Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea, determining that Chiles had been incorrectly awarded the third-place position. As a result, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on August 11 that Chiles’ bronze medal would be reallocated to Barbosu.
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“We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal,” the IOC stated in a press release.
The CAS ruling has been passed on to the IOC and the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to oversee the redistribution of the medals.
Chiles had initially won the bronze in the floor final, marking her first-ever individual Olympic medal. The American gymnast originally finished the event in fifth place based on the judges’ scoring. However, her coach, Cecile Landi of USA Gymnastics, quickly submitted an inquiry, arguing that Chiles’ difficulty score had been incorrectly calculated. Specifically, Landi pointed out that a leap involving a split in the air while turning 540 degrees had been undervalued.
The judges agreed with Landi’s assessment, raising Chiles’ score from 13.666 to 13.766, which placed her in third ahead of Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea, both of whom had scored 13.700.
However, the Romanian Olympic Committee filed a protest the following day, arguing that the inquiry was submitted outside the permitted time frame. On August 10, the CAS judge ruled that Landi’s inquiry had indeed been submitted 1 minute and 4 seconds after the conclusion of the routine—4 seconds too late to be considered valid under article 8.5 of the 2024 FIG Technical Regulations.
“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,” the ruling stated.
The Romanian Olympic Committee had requested that the IOC and FIG amend the final podium to award all three gymnasts a bronze medal. However, this request was not granted, and the medal was instead reallocated solely to Barbosu.
Before the CAS ruling was made public, Chiles shared a series of heartbroken emojis on her Instagram Stories. Following the announcement, she informed her followers that she would be taking a break from social media for her mental health, stating, “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”
Chiles’ close friend and teammate Simone Biles expressed her support on Instagram Stories, sharing a photo of the two gymnasts hugging at a competition and writing, “Sending you so much love, Jordan. Keep your chin up, Olympic champ! We love you!”
USA Gymnastics also expressed their disappointment with the CAS decision in a statement shared with PEOPLE. “We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise. 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.”
As the gymnastics world processes the CAS decision, the focus now shifts to how Chiles, her supporters, and the broader community will move forward from this difficult and controversial ruling.
