USA Gymnastics head coach Cecile Landi submitted the request to revise Jordan Chiles' score 47 seconds after it was posted, not 64 seconds, according to a statement from the organization on Sunday. The statement also mentioned that a letter and video evidence were presented to the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
USA Gymnastics is now advocating for Chiles' bronze medal in the Olympic women's floor routine — which she had to return after the court ruled the inquiry was allegedly submitted four seconds past the one-minute deadline — to be returned to the 23-year-old athlete. A number of US gymnasts have come in support of Chiles as her fate hangs in balance.
Coach Tries to Help Save Chiles
"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," USA Gymnastics said in its statement.
"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."
This development added another layer to the ongoing Olympics saga, which persists even after all the gymnastics events have concluded and the closing ceremony wrapped up on Sunday afternoon.
Chiles initially finished fifth in the women's floor final, but following Landi's inquiry, a scoring adjustment boosted her to third place, just behind Simone Biles, who claimed silver, and Brazil's gold medalist Rebeca Andrade.
The trio created a viral moment during the ceremony when Biles and Chiles both bowed to Andrade.
Stripped of Medal but Fight Continues
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.
Chiles received backing from Biles, her Team USA teammate Suni Lee, and her sister, Jazmin.
Jazmin took to social media to reveal that Chiles had been subjected to racist messages and criticized the challenging situation her sister has had to endure in Paris.
"They have officially, 5 days later, stripped her of one of her medals," Jazmin wrote in a post on her Instagram story, in part. "Not because she didn't win, not because she was drugged, not because she stepped out of bounds. Not because she wasn't good enough.
"But because the judges failed to give her difficulty [score] and forced an inquiry to be made."
