Why Jordan Chiles was stripped of bronze medal at Olympics amid score controversy
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages/Jamie Squire/Getty Images
It was announced on Sunday (11 August) that Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles would be stripped of her Olympic bronze medal, following an inquiry into her score.
But if Chiles has already been awarded the bronze medal, how can it be given to another athlete?
Well, the controversy began during the women's floor final on Monday (5 August).
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While Chiles had initially scored 13.666 in the final - putting her in fifth place - it was later upgraded to 13.766, which placed her third and ahead of Romanian athlete, Ana Barbosu.
Simone Biles took home the silver medal, while Brazil's Rebeca Andrade took the gold.
However, following the score upgrade and after an appeal from the Romanian Olympic Committee, Chiles has been stripped of her bronze medal, which has now been reinstated to Ana Barbosu.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the appeal from the Romanian Olympic Committee, which claimed that the inquiry into Chiles' score was made four seconds outside of the one-minute window for appeals and therefore would need to be disregarded.
Because Chiles went last in the final, her coach only had one minute to file the inquiry, meanwhile, athletes performing ahead of her would have had around three or four minutes until the next gymnast began their performance.
“Following the CAS decision with regard to the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Final and the amendment of the ranking by the International Gymnastics Federation, the IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Bărbosu (Romania),” the International Olympic Committee said in a statement.
“We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal.”
Following the decision, the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee said they would be filing an appeal.
“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,” they said.
“Given these circumstances, we are committed to pursuing an appeal to help Jordan Chiles receive 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.”
Meanwhile, teammate Simone Biles said: "Sending you so much love Jordan, keep your chin up Olympic champ! We love you!”
Chiles herself posted a string of broken heart emojis on her Instagram Story, writing: "I am taking this time to remove myself from social media for my mental health thank you."