American gymnast Jordan Chiles, who was recently stripped of her bronze medal in the women’s floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics, reportedly has no intention of returning the medal following a controversy involving an appeal process. The Court of Arbitration (CAS) ultimately led the International Olympic Committee to revise the results, awarding the bronze to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu.
Chiles, a two-time Olympian and Olympic gold medalist, originally placed fifth in the final. Her ranking improved following a successful appeal by Team USA coach Cecile Landi, which contested the initial scoring. Landi’s appeal, which was to add .1 to Chiles’ score for a specific maneuver, briefly placed Chiles in the bronze medal position by displacing Barbosu.
Despite participating in the medal ceremony, Romania challenged the legitimacy of the appeal, claiming it was made outside the allowed one-minute window after Chiles’ score was posted. The CAS sided with Romania, and Barbosu was reinstated as the bronze medalist last Friday.
According to Christine Brennan of USA Today, Chiles, currently in the United States, still holds the medal and has no plans to relinquish it. This stance comes amid announcements from U.S. officials that they intend to contest the CAS decision due to what they deem “significant procedural errors.” The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee is considering taking the matter to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
The situation is complicated further by discrepancies in the timing of the appeal. USA Gymnastics maintains that the appeal was lodged 13 seconds before the deadline, supporting their claim with video evidence, while Romania insists it was four seconds too late. Chiles herself has labeled the decision to strip her of the medal as “unjust.”
