U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles originally won a bronze medal for her performance in the women's floor exercise event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
That is to say, one week later her medal is being taken away, after a technicality in the rule book has been enforced.
In view of the situation, Chiles had scored a 13.666 in the competition, which landed her in fifth place. However, the Team USA coaches challenged the judges' decision, noting the difficulty of her routine. Then, upon review they actually granted her a slight tenth of a point upgrade, which catapulted her into third place.
With this in mind, over the weekend the Court of Arbitration for Sport actually discovered that the U.S. team challenged the judges' ruling 64 seconds after the scorers were posted, which unfortunately is four seconds too late, for all challenges must be made in a minute.
As a result, the score was changed back to 13.666, and the International Olympic Committee finalized the decision that Chiles had to give her bronze medal to Romanian Ana Barbosu, who had the new third-best score (13.700) after the update.
To note, Brazil's Rebeca Andrade won the gold medal in the floor competition while fellow Team USA member Simone Biles got the silver.
In what may make Chiles feel better, Flavor Flav, who has been supportive of women's Olympic sports, came through on his promise that he was going to make her a bronze medal clock chain.
Flavor Flav shows off the bronze clock necklace he had made for USA Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles after she was stripped of a bronze medal at the Olympics. pic.twitter.com/JhklKck8Q1
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) August 13, 2024
"USA gonna fight the Powers that be... in the meantime between time... Imma always be a man of my word @ChilesJordan," Flavor Flav tweeted out.
You are a champion.
You suggested one of the most memorable, love-centered moments in sports history.
No matter what happens next, you are great, now and forever.
And the error of others does not change your character.
I’m grateful for you and for your… pic.twitter.com/z4Y4uQ4tVQ
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) August 10, 2024
The Team USA gymnastics team is not done fighting, as they released a statement on the matter.
Statement from USA Gymnastics on CAS Notice: pic.twitter.com/HoSiKjx9wl
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) August 12, 2024
"We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure that just scoring, placement and medal award for Jordan."
Despite losing the bronze medal, Chiles still leaves Paris with a gold medal for her participation in the U.S. women's gymnastics all-around team competition.
