PARIS — U.S. Olympic officials say they will appeal a court ruling that resulted in American gymnast Jordan Chiles being asked to return the bronze medal she won in the Paris Olympics floor exercise.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) voided an on-floor appeal by Chiles’ coach that vaulted her to third, saying the appeal came 4 seconds beyond the 1-minute time limit for scoring inquiries.
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said Saturday night it would respect the court’s decision and elevate Barbosu to third. The International Olympic Committee confirmed the ruling Sunday, announcing that it was reallocating the bronze from last Monday’s women’s floor final to Romanian Ana Barbosu.
“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee statement said.
CAS ruled Saturday that Team USA coach Cecile Landi’s appeal to have 0.1 added to Chiles’ score came outside the 1-minute window allowed by the FIG. The ad hoc committee wrote that Landi’s inquiry came 1 minute, 4 seconds after Chiles’ initial score was posted.
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The IOC said in a statement it will be in touch with the USOPC regarding the return of Chiles’ bronze and will work with the Romanian Olympic Committee to discuss a reallocation ceremony honoring Barbosu.
“The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision,” said the USOPC statement, which was released Sunday.
It was unclear the exact process the appeal would take first. The two potential places the USOPC could take the appeal would be to Switzerland’s highest court, the Swiss Tribunal or the European Court of Human Rights.
CAS wrote Saturday that the initial finishing order should be restored, with Barbosu third, Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth. The organization added the FIG should determine the final ranking “in accordance with the above decision,” but left it up to the federation to decide who would get the medal behind gold winner Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the U.S.
The FIG said it was the IOC’s call on whether to reallocate the medal. The IOC confirmed Sunday it would respect FIG’s decision and seek to have Chiles’ medal returned.
The rapid turn of events adds another layer to what has been a difficult few days for all three athletes.
Romania’s Ana Barbosu replaced American Jordan Chiles as the Olympic bronze medalist in gymnastics floor exercise after the International Gymnastics Federation restored Barbosu to third.
The International Olympic Committee confirmed the reallocation of the medal-less than 24 hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided an appeal from Chiles’ coach during Monday’s competition that vaulted her over Barbosu and onto the podium.
Here’s a look at how Chiles, Barbosu and Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea wound up in a scoring controversy that has been painful for all three.
How did Jordan Chiles initially end up with the bronze?
Chiles qualified third in women’s floor exercise and competed last in the eight-woman final, where the order was determined randomly in advance.
The 23-year-old finished her routine and was awarded a 13.666, which was fifth just behind Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea at 13.700.
Cecile Landi, who is Chiles’ personal coach and also served as coach for Team USA in Paris, appealed to the judges to have an element restored to Chiles’ routine. Judges approved the appeal, boosting Chiles’ score by .1, good enough for Chiles to earn her third career Olympic medal to go with the team silver she won in Tokyo in 2021 and the team gold she helped the U.S. capture in Paris.
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How did Romania appeal Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal?
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation asked CAS to review the procedure surrounding Landi’s appeal of Chiles’ score.
International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) guidelines require coaches to make any appeal of a score within one minute of the score being posted.
CAS ruled that Landi officially made her appeal in 1 minute, and 4 seconds, just past the deadline.
The appeal on Chiles was granted, with CAS ruling that Chiles’ score should be dropped back down to 13.666 and that the initial order of finish should be restored.
So will Ana Barbosu get the bronze medal?
Yes.
CAS wrote in its ruling that the FIG shall determine the final ranking, but added that FIG should assign the medal “in accordance with” the CAS decision. The FIG placed Barbosu third, Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth.
The FIG said while the initial order was restored, it was up to the IOC to determine what would happen with the medals.
The IOC announced the bronze would indeed go to Barbosu and that it would work with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to have the bronze awarded to Chiles returned.
The decision is in line with how the IOC typically views medal allocation.
At the Olympics, the governing body of each sport manages the competition and decides the results. The IOC typically accepts that result — once appeals to CAS are completed — and formally awards the medals.
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What happened with Sabrina Maneca-Voinea?
While Barbosu was relatively quiet in the aftermath, Maneca-Voinea was not.
She used her social media accounts to highlight what she believed was incorrect scoring during her routine. The judging panel dinged her 0.1 point for stepping out of bounds while spinning around to start a tumbling pass.
Video evidence seemed to indicate that Maneca-Voinea’s heel did not actually step on the boundary. The Romanian federation asked CAS to restore 0.1 to Maneca-Voinea’s score for a penalty that was given to her “without basis.”
The request was denied in part because Maneca-Voinea’s coach did not appeal the score in real-time during the meet.
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