Proposal for Jordan Chiles to split Olympic bronze medal comes with a major catch

A proposal to 'split' a bronze medal between two athletes could have further implications as the arbitration continues.

The Olympics in Paris may have closed, but it seems that there's still one last controversy left in the games.

Arbitration is ongoing with a disagreement between the US and Romanian Olympic teams over who gets to take the bronze.

It's also not just one athlete on each side either, but two from the Romanian team, Ana-Maria Bărbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, and one from the US team, Jordan Chiles.

Chiles had initially been in fifth place in the women's floor final, but her score was upgraded following a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

It came after an appeal from her coach Cecile Landi which increased her difficulty rating.

But the Romanian Olympic Committee has claimed that Landi's appeal was lodged more than one minute after the score was declared, which would mean it wouldn't count.

Jordan Chiles was awarded the bronze medal. (Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Now, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation has weighed in on the matter with a proposal to simply split the bronze medal three ways as a way to resolve the dispute.

In a statement, the federation said: “The initiative to award bronze medals to all three athletes, Jordan Chiles, Ana-Maria Bărbosu, and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, was proposed by the lawyers of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, with the prior approval of the Federation."

It added: “The leadership of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation (FRG), through its representatives, took all necessary steps to reach this consensus. We emphasize that certain requests were made by the American side to achieve this goal, and our side consistently complied with these requests, a fact that was appreciated by the American representative.”

Sabrina Maneca-Voinea competes on the beam at Paris 2024. (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

While on the surface it makes sense as a way to resolve the dispute, another twist has now emerged.

This is that the panel chair in charge of deciding the fate of the bronze medal has connections to Romania according to reports in the US media.

The Cas has now issued a furious response to the reports, saying in a statement: "The Cas condemns the outrageous statements published in certain US media alleging that the panel, and more particularly its chairman, was biased due to other professional engagements or for reasons of nationality.

"As none of the parties involved in this case has challenged any panel member during the procedure, it can reasonably be assumed that all parties were satisfied to have their case heard by this panel. Any subsequent criticism is without foundation or merit."

In the meantime, the dispute grinds on.

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