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Jordan Chiles’ Olympic bronze medal appeal controversy explained

Posted on by darion

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to help you catch up and better understand what’s going on in the world. Did you see anything about Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles possibly returning the bronze medal she won in Paris for free exercise? And are you really confused about the whole thing? Don’t worry. We’re here to help.

You may remember Jordan Chiles dramatically winning the bronze medal for her freestyle on Monday after her coach challenged her score. It turns out the saga didn’t end there, as Romania (understandably) filed its own appeal of Team USA’s challenge.

The last few days have been incredibly emotional for Chiles, as the fate of her medal was decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG).

Saturday brought some clarity to the matter and for all the athletes involved, following numerous appeals, this is truly devastating news.

Why does Chiles have to give up his medal?

Well, let’s slow things down first. As of Saturday afternoon, Chiles doesn’t have to pay anything back, but we’ll update this post if that changes.

If you remember, Chiles originally placed fifth in her free program with a score of 13.666 behind two Romanian gymnasts, Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea (who both scored 13.7). Chiles’ coaches successfully challenged the judges’ score for the difficulty of her program, which added 0.1 to her score and earned Chiles the bronze.

No one is arguing that Chiles’ initial rating was incorrect or that the judges were wrong to award him a 0.1 rating upon retrial.

Instead, Romania’s appeal came down to the timing of the U.S. team’s challenge. CAS ruled that the Americans had indeed challenged too late, under FIG rules—by four seconds.

FOUR SECONDS!? Chiles could lose bronze because of four seconds!?

Yes. It’s really awful, but that’s the rule. Coaches have 60 seconds to challenge a score from the moment it appears on the scoreboard. Chiles’ challenge came after 64 seconds.

According to Article 8.5 FIG:

Queries about difficulty ratings are permitted provided they are made verbally immediately after the rating is posted or at the latest before the rating of the next gymnast/athlete or group is displayed.

In the event that two (2) categories/equipment are judged alternately (by two (2) panels or one panel), a query must be made before the results of the next gymnast or group in the same category/equipment are displayed.

For the last gymnast or group in the rotation, this limit is one (1) minute after the score is displayed on the scoreboard. The person designated to receive the verbal request must record the time of receipt, either in writing or electronically, which initiates the procedure.

Only accredited coaches at the competition venue are authorised to submit enquiries.

Well, that’s just a very bad rule.

Look, if it’s about giving the athletes the fairest possible outcome, then yes. It’s a very bad rule. But it’s also a rule that applies. And just as it was fair for Team USA to challenge Chiles’ result, it’s fair for Romania to appeal that challenge.

But Romania’s request was actually incredibly generous. They wanted to split the bronze three ways. Which brings us back to CAS.

What did Romania’s appeal contain?

According to CAS:

The Applicants requested the CAS Ad hoc Division to rule that the investigation was filed outside the 1-minute time limit set out in Article 8.5 of the FIG 2024 Technical Regulations (i.e. 1 minute and 4 seconds) and to dismiss the investigation as premature, thereby upholding the initial score of 13.666 and adjusting the final classification accordingly. The Applicants also requested that the 0.1 execution penalty imposed on Ms. Sabrina Maneca-Voinea was unjustified, thereby increasing her score to 13.800, and that the final classification be adjusted accordingly. In the alternative, the Applicants requested a ruling adjusting the classification of Ms. Ana Maria Bărbosu, Ms. Sabina Maneca-Voinea and Ms. Jordan Chiles by placing all three athletes in 3rd position and awarding medals to all three athletes.

What did CAS have to say about all this?

CAS issued five key rulings:

1. The application submitted by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and Ms. Ana Bărbosu on 6 August 2024, in the amended version of 8 August 2024, is partially accepted.

2. The query submitted on behalf of Ms Jordan Chiles in the women’s final was submitted after the one-minute deadline set out in Article 8.5 of the 2024 FIG Technical Regulations and is deemed ineffective.

3. The initial score of 13.666 awarded to Ms. Jordan Chiles in the final of the women’s art competition will be reinstated.

4. The International Gymnastics Federation will determine the classification of the women’s freestyle final and award the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision.

5. All other applications are rejected.

Does the FIG now have to determine the final classification based on Chiles’ original result?

Basically, who knows what they will decide to do here.

Regardless of what happens, it looks like the gymnasts will be penalized for the judges’ poor performance. If they had correctly assessed Chiles’ performance from the start, there would have been nothing to question.

Does Team USA have any say in the matter?

Of course.

How does Chiles deal with it all?

Honestly, it’s hard to say. In addition to the personal heartache of potentially having her medal stripped on a technicality, she has faced some brutal and racist attacks online.

Because of this, she announced that she was taking a break from social media.

via instagram.com/jordanchiles

What a terrible situation

Seriously. Let’s hope everyone goes home with a medal like Romania asked for and all the internet hate goes away.

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