Jordan Chiles' Olympic medal taken away after court reverses controversial score
Jordan Chiles has had her bronze medal revoked at the 2024 Paris Olympics, amid controversy over her score.
Romanian athletes Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea both lost to the American gymnast after Team USA requested an appeal of Chiles' difficulty score.
The judges ultimately corrected Chiles' D-score from a 5.8 to a 5.9, which moved her up to the bronze medal positions.
Teammate Simone Biles took home the silver medal, while Brazil's Rebecca Andrade won the gold.
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The chance of opinion by the judges saw Barbosu lose her medal, which led to a bid from the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee to change the decision.
Mihai Covaliu, the president of the Romanian Olympic Committee, sent a formal letter of protest to the International Gymnastics Federation.
The letter, in part, read: "With respect to Olympic values, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee forwards this address, by which it respectfully requests you to order the re-analysis [of] the decision making factors of the case of the Romanian athlete Sabrina Maneca Voinea regarding the score given to the execution of the exercise in the floor final, contested on Monday, August 5, 2024.
"We make this request based on the care that the International Olympic Committee and the entire world sports movement gives to the athlete.
"The way of assessing the score awarded and the refusal to fully present the reasons/evidence for the rejection of the appeal submitted within the deadline provided by the regulation brings serious damage both to the image of international gymnastics but especially affects the athlete, endangering his mental health."
Well, the decision has since been reversed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) who have upheld the appeal from the Romanian Olympic Committee.
It was concluded the inquiry by Team USA for Chiles' score was made four seconds outside of the one-minute window for appeals to be made.
As a result, it would need to be disregarded, which means Chiles' bronze medal has been taken away from her while Barbosu has gained it back.
In a joint statement posted to Twitter, USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee said: "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."
Callum Jones