Jordan Chiles is at risk of losing the Olympic bronze medal she won in the women's floor final due to a shocking decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Saturday. The 23-year-old gymnast from the US had originally placed third in the event, behind Brazil's gold medalist Rebeca Andrade and her fellow American teammate Simone Biles, who won silver.
Chiles only won the third spot after her score of 13.666, which initially put her in fifth place, was raised by 0.1 following an appeal from her coach. The CAS ruled the score being raised was improperly allowed, as it was filed one minute after the deadline had passed.
Heartbreak for Chiles
The court concluded that Chiles should have kept her original score of 13.666, which would have placed her in fifth. Following the CAS ruling, the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique reinstated the initial final standings on Saturday, with Romanian Ana Barbosu in third place and Chiles in fifth.
However, it stated that the final decision regarding the medals rests with the International Olympic Committee, leaving the uncertainty of whether Chiles will retain her bronze medal.
In a statement, the CAS clarified that the ruling pertained to Chiles' score but did not affect her final ranking.
"The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique shall determine the ranking of the women's Floor exercise and assign the medal[s] in accordance with the above decision," CAS said.
"We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women's floor exercise," USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a joint statement. "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.
"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."
Bitter Battle of Honor
Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea narrowly missed out on medals in Monday's floor final after both received scores of 13.700. Barbosu initially believed she had won the bronze over Maneca-Voinea due to a tiebreaker based on a higher execution score and began celebrating with a Romanian flag.
Chiles was the last gymnast to perform and was initially awarded a score of 13.666, placing her fifth, just behind Maneca-Voinea.
However, her coach, Cecile Landi, requested a review of a jump that had been given a lower difficulty rating.
The judges upheld the appeal, which resulted in Chiles overtaking both Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea to claim the final spot on the podium.
On August 7, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation announced that it had submitted requests to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, one of which was related to the inquiry filed by Chiles' coaches.
"Aware of the negative impact on Ana Maria Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation aims to correct the mistakes made by the judges and to restore the rights of our athletes," the federation said.
The outcome of the floor exercise sparked outrage in Romania.
Romanian gymnastics icon Nadia Comaneci and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu both criticized the decision to award Chiles the bronze medal. Ciolacu announced he would skip the closing ceremony, denouncing the treatment of Romanian athletes as "absolutely dishonorable."
