CAS ruling shifts Jordan Chiles' floor exercise bronze to Romanian Ana Barbosu
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Saturday (10 August) that an inquiry that raised U.S. gymnast’s Jordan Chiles score during last week’s floor exercise at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 final was invalid.
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) issued a statement on Saturday evening, modifying the final floor results to rank Ana Barbosu third. Now the bronze medal will be awarded to the Romanian gymnast.
Chiles was originally given a score of 13.666, that put her fifth behind eventual champion Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles and a pair of a Romanians: Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea.
The difficulty score inquiry, lodged by coach Cecile Landi, added .1 to her score, lifting her to the bronze medal as a devastated Barbosu thought the celebrations she started on the podium were premature.
The ruling Saturday says the American’s inquiry came outside the allotted time and is therefore invalid, reverting her score to 13.666.
“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 decision read in part.
Online, Chiles has faced a barrage of attacks.
She posted twice Saturday on her Instagram story, first a black background with four heartbreak emojis and then a second post that read, “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health. Thank you.”
USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee issued a joint statement in the wake of the CAS ruling.
"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," they said.
"Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subject to such treatment. 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."