The 2024 Olympics are officially over, but a bronze medal still hangs in the balance.
The medal was initially awarded to American gymnast Jordan Chiles. Chiles, who won gold with the U.S. team in Paris, finished third in the floor event final on Aug. 5 — an Olympic time that seemed like ages ago. But this past Saturday, on the eve of the final day of the Games, the International Olympic Committee asked Chiles to return her bronze, giving it to runner-up Romanian Ana Barbosu.
It’s an unusual occurrence for Olympic officials to ask an athlete to return their medal, but what makes Chiles’ case even more bizarre is that it was largely the judges’ fault. Chiles was initially underscored, then correctly scored, and then said about a week later that his correct score should not have counted because his coaches did not catch the error within a minute. That is why his medal is now being taken away.
This kerfuffle is not going to do any favors for the credibility of gymnastics, a sport that is already subjectively scored. Team USA appealing the decision will only draw out this negative press. Unfortunately for Chiles, he’s now caught in a crossfire that only gets uglier and uglier as this bronze medal story unfolds.
Current Status of Jordan Chiles’ Bronze Medal
If there’s one thing to be understood about Chiles’ bronze medal, it’s that it had nothing to do with Chiles’ gymnastics or her competitors’ performances in the floor event finals last week. Chiles’ powerful tumbling passes, landings and leaps over the apparatus are all technically second to none.
During the event finals for floor, Chiles was originally given a score of 13.666. Team USA and Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landy, filed an inquiry with a panel of judges arguing that they incorrectly scored the routine and did not give Chiles credit for a split jump that “The tour jet is full“The judges reviewed and concurred with that inquiry, and extended it Chiles score 13.766.
The 13.766 was high enough to give Chiles the bronze, knocking Romanians Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voena off the podium (both gymnasts scored 13.700s, but Barbosu won on a tiebreaker).
Several inquiries, including one about when the Romanian team took the field Maneka-Boyner scoreThis is the main controversy that sparked the medal debacle During Team USA’s scoring investigation. Official rules state that Landy’s inquiry into Chiles’ score must be filed within one minute of his score. Romania argued that Landy investigated one minute and four seconds after Chiles scored. Those four seconds, Romania argued, put the U.S. over the time limit and Chiles’ new score should have been disallowed.
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in favor of Romania. Officially and as of this momentBarboso’s score of 13.700 was credited as the third-place bronze medal finish, and Chiles’ score of 13.666 was pushed back. To reflect this ruling, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ordered Chiles to return her bronze medal.
In response to the IOC’s ruling, Team USA announced that it submitted additional evidence to CAS that the investigation was filed within the time limit — not once, but twice. “Time-stamped, video evidence submitted by USA Gymnastics on Sunday evening shows that Landy first requested an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score was posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was posted,” the federation said. said in a statement.
On Monday, USA Gymnastics said in a statement that it had been notified by CAS that its “rules do not permit reconsideration of an arbitral award even if conclusive new evidence is presented.” USA Gymnastics said it will pursue additional avenues for an award for Chiles.
It’s important to remember that the fundamental error in Chiles’ score is a judge’s error, an error that the judges acknowledged. Chili’s Correct Score is Chili’s Correct Score. Gymnastics is not track and field, and scores are not determined by a clock, but there are certain criteria — including the execution of moves involved — that need to be evaluated in the final score. Arguing that the judges took four seconds too long to fix an error they themselves introduced feels more at home in the retail customer service death spiral than in a supposedly prestigious Olympic sport where judges and official timekeepers should be able to follow predetermined protocols. .
People can’t stop being racist towards Jordan Chile
This mess, of course, does not happen in a bubble.
Indeed, the medal undoes an Olympic milestone in Kerfuhl: the first all-black podium in the history of the Games by Chiles, her teammate Simone Biles and Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade. That was and is seen as a victory for many Growth for sportsIt’s not exactly a coincidence racist And far-right figures have become embroiled in the saga of the scrapped bronze.
Like many sports, gymnastics itself has a checkered history of racism and the treatment of black athletes. It wasn’t long ago that Biles faced racist attacks, from belittling her skills to coded discussions about how the multiple gold medalist made the sport less elegant with her strength. Black female athletes such as Serena Williams have faced similar discrimination in their sports.
Mentioned right-wing personalities and racists There are now stories about how white gymnasts were cheated out of medals at the Olympics, or how black athletes like Chile are cheaters themselves. Dr. Matt Walsh to call 2024 GamesDEI Olympics” It didn’t take long for those feelings to turn into hateful behavior, as racists began attacking Chile personally.
In the story of Padak’s comeback, Jordan Dr He was taking a break from social media. Chiles’ mother, Gina, posted on Twitter that her daughter was the victim of racist attacks:
It’s depressingly dark to see Chiles accept these attacks and shut down his public accounts. Medal or no medal, Chiles’ Olympics — a once-in-a-lifetime experience, twice if you’re as fit and skilled as Chiles — will be marred by the racism and bigotry she faced because of umpiring mistakes.
All Jordan Chiles did was compete, and he did so that he would be judged fairly. The people who run Olympic gymnastics didn’t give her that chance.
Update, August 12, 2024, 5:20 pm ET: This story was published on August 12 and has been updated with the news that CAS will not entertain Team USA’s application.
