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Olympics and Paralympics
Becky Sullivan, NPR

U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles may have to return Olympic bronze medal after ruling

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Jordan Chiles, of the United States, competes during the women's artistic gymnastics individual floor finals Monday at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Chiles won bronze after a last-minute inquiry found the judges had underscored her by a tenth of a point. On Saturday, an appeals court vacated the inquiry, saying it had come four seconds too late.
Jordan Chiles, of the United States, competes during the women's artistic gymnastics individual floor finals Monday at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Chiles won bronze after a last-minute inquiry found the judges had underscored her by a tenth of a point. On Saturday, an appeals court vacated the inquiry, saying it had come four seconds too late.
Charlie Riedel/AP

NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. For more of our coverage from the Games head to our latest updates.

PARIS — An independent arbitration court has vacated a last-minute inquiry in the Olympic gymnastics floor exercise final that boosted the score of U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles — a decision that now puts her bronze medal into question.

Judges in last Monday's final in Paris had originally given Chiles a score of 13.666, which put her in fifth place behind two Romanian gymnasts, Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, both of whom had scored 13.7.

Because Chiles had been the last to perform her floor routine, Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea began to celebrate when the initial score came through, thinking they had won the bronze instead.

But Chiles' coaches believed the judges had underscored her, and they filed an inquiry shortly after the initial score came through. The judges agreed and revised her score up by a tenth of a point to 13.766, moving her into third place over Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea. Chiles was awarded the bronze medal.

The next day, the Romanian gymnastics organization filed a protest with the sport's international governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, seeking to have the inquiry overturned.

In a decision Saturday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said that Chiles' inquiry had indeed been filed too late. Gymnastics rules require that inquiries be filed within one minute; Chiles' inquiry was filed after one minute and four seconds. With the inquiry vacated, her score was reverted to 13.666.

Now, Chiles' bronze medal is in question.

U.S.'s Jordan Chiles holds up her medals after the gymnastics finals on Monday. Her bronze, on the left, which she won during the floor exercise might be taken away.
U.S.'s Jordan Chiles holds up her medals after the gymnastics finals on Monday. Her bronze, on the left, which she won during the floor exercise might be taken away.
Charlie Riedel/AP

The final ranking determination falls to the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. The Romanian protest had also asked that all three athletes be ranked together in 3rd place by FIG, in order to share the bronze. It was not immediately clear how FIG would proceed.

In a joint statement, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said they were "devastated" by the ruling.

"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," the statement said.

In a post on her Instagram, Chiles said she was broken-hearted. "I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health," she wrote.

"Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media," the USA Gymnastics and USOPC statement said. No athlete should be subject to such treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who engage, support or instigate them."

Copyright 2024, NPR