American gymnast Jordan Chiles must return her bronze medal in the women’s floor event following a score change on appeal, the International Olympic Committee confirmed on Sunday.
On Saturday, Chiles knew her bronze was in jeopardy after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that her score of 13.666 must be returned, which would have put Chiles in fifth place and given Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu third place. 13.700 marks and whose country filed the CAS appeal.
“Following the CAS decision regarding the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise final and the revision of the International Gymnastics Federation rankings, the IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Parbos (Romania),” the IOC said in a statement on Sunday. (via NBC News) “We are in contact with Romania’s NOC to discuss with the USOPC regarding the rededication ceremony and the return of the bronze medal.”
August. 6 During the event, Chiles initially scored a score of 13.666, which would have placed her fifth in the competition, ahead of eventual gold medalist Rebecca Andrade, silver medalist and teammate Simone Biles, and a pair of Romanian gymnasts, Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Vonia.
However, after the goal was scored, Chiles’ coaches appealed to the referees, arguing that the usual level of difficulty – and thus the score – was incorrect; The judges agreed, and when the score was adjusted by 0.1, Cilis’ new score of 13.766 was enough to surpass Barbosu’s and Vonia’s 13.700, giving her bronze at the last minute and the first-ever black medal on the Olympic gymnastics podium.
However, after Romania’s post-event appeal, the CAS was discovered A minute later came Team USA’s appeal Four seconds – Coaches have one minute to appeal a score after the evaluation — so CAS overruled Team USA’s appeal and dropped Chiles’ score to 13.666 and fifth place. On Sunday, the IOC accepted the CAS ruling and asked for Chiles’ medal to be returned.
“We firmly believe that Jordan was rightfully awarded the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the International Gymnastics Federation’s (FIG) initial scoring and the subsequent CAS appeals process that must be addressed,” USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee said in a statement Sunday, following the IOC’s order. It said it would appeal.
“Given these circumstances, we are committed to continuing the appeal to help Jordan Chiles get the recognition he deserves. We remain committed to supporting him as Olympic champion and will continue to work diligently to resolve this matter expeditiously and fairly.
Flavor Flav – the official hypeman for the Olympic women’s water polo team this summer – offered little consolation as the ruling cost Chiles a bronze medal. On Sunday, the Public Enemy member took to social media to present him with a different award. “Hey you @ChillesJordan,” wrote the rapper“Imma make you a bronze watch necklace,,, that no one else has,!!! Hitting my girl,,, I understand,!!!”
Following the CAS ruling on Saturday, Chiles – already in the US appeared in the studion The Today Show this week – He wrote on Instagram that he will avoid social media in the future. “I am taking this time to remove myself from social media for my mental health,” she wrote in a message with broken heart emojis.
This article has been updated to include Flavor Flav’s offer.
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