Paris, Aug 11: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the bronze medal given to American gymnast Jordan Chiles in the floor exercise at the Paris Games will be reallocated to Ana Barbosu of Romania.
It comes after a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling upheld an appeal by the Romanian Olympic Committee that an inquiry submitted by the USA about Chiles’ score in the gymnastics floor exercise final was filed beyond the 1-minute deadline.
“The IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania). We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal,” the IOC statement read.
The International Gymnastics Federation (Fig) also confirmed that “the ranking of the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Finals has been modified accordingly, with Ana Barbosu (ROU) ranking third with a score of 13.700.”
“The initial score of 13.666 given to Jordan Chiles (USA) is reinstated,” it added.
Jordan Chiles initially scored 13.666 in Monday’s final, placing fifth. Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, with a score of 13.7, believed she had won bronze. However, after Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landi, requested a review of her difficulty rating, officials upgraded her score to 13.766, moving her to third place.
This adjustment upset Barbosu, who had already begun celebrating, and led to a protest from the Romanian team.
After the medal ceremony, the Romanian team filed its own appeal, noting that Team USA’s appeal occurred outside the one-minute time limit to question the judges’ scores.
In reinstating Chiles’ score to 13.666, CAS said that “The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique shall determine the ranking of the final of the women’s floor exercise and assign the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision.”
Following the CAS ruling, USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee issued in a joint statement, saying, “We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise. 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,” it added. (IANS)
