Topics: Jordan Chiles, Olympics, Simone Biles, Sport
Simone Biles has spoken out after her Team USA teammate Jordan Chiles was stripped of her Olympic bronze medal.
On August 5 at the 2024 Paris Olympics, US gymnast Jordan Chiles initially finished fifth in the women's floor final with a score of 13.666, however, after her coach appealed the ranking, she was bumped up to the third spot.
After US coach Cecile Landi contested Chiles' score on the basis of the difficulty score being under-credited, the gymnast's score was raised by 0.1 points to 13.766.
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This bumped her ahead of Romanian gymnasts Ana Bǎrbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea - who both scored 13.700 - and landed Chiles the bronze medal.
However, on August 10, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) revealed it agreed with an appeal made by Romanian officials that the score was made four seconds later than the one minute deadline allowed for objections, putting Chiles back in fifth position.
Following the ruling, it was suggested the bronze medal simply be awarded to all three athletes but on August 11, the request was rejected and Chiles was asked to return the medal.
Chiles later took to Twitter expressing how 'devastating' the news was her bronze medal was being 'stripped away'.
"I have no words," she continued. "This decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey."
And fellow gymnast Biles has since spoken out once more in support of Chiles.
Biles previously took to her Instagram story on August 10 to send Chiles 'love,' calling her an 'Olympic champ'.
And in an interview with PEOPLE, Biles explained the pair have been texting and FaceTiming and she's been offering words of encouragement to her fellow athlete, telling her to 'feel all these feels' and not 'let these emotions stop' her as being 'the healthiest way to get all of this out'.
Biles continued: "We saw what you did. And it’s an unfortunate circumstance because something like this has never happened before and it’s truly a shame, but we wish all three girls could get the medal and unfortunately in gymnastics that’s not the case.
"Do we think they did the correct procedures to come to this ruling? No. That’s really why we want that justice for Jordan and why we’re going to keep supporting her and uplifting her."
CAS spokesperson, Director General, Matthieu Reeb, told UNILAD: "Considering that the gymnasts Sabrina Voinea and Jordan Chiles have announced their intent to file an appeal at the Swiss Federal Tribunal against the CAS award in this case, the CAS will not express any opinion about the comments expressed by Ms Biles or anyone else concerning this matter."
UNILAD has reached out to the International Olympic Committee for comment.
