Jordan Chiles Might Lose Her Bronze Medal, But Flavor Flav Made Her a Bronze Clock
After a lengthy back-and-forth, The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled that the decorated Olympian's bronze medal belongs to Romania.
Photos: Getty Images LatestOlympics Paris Olympics
Jordan Chiles might soon be stripped of the bronze medal she won in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympic Games after a back-and-forth regarding an inquiry about her score—and the timing of which it was filed—ensued. The case, which has taken as many twists and turns as Chiles, is proving tough to keep up with. Especially since navigating all of The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s red tape should also warrant a medal. Allow me to attempt to explain.
In short, Chiles was awarded the bronze after her coaches filed an inquiry based on difficulty. After a review, the judges boosted Chiles’ total by 0.1 which beat out Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea and Ana Bǎrbosu who originally finished third with identical scores. After Chiles’ won, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation—along with Bǎrbosu and Maneca-Voinea—challenged the Court of Arbitration for Sport to review the circumstances surrounding the decision to revise Chiles’ score, arguing that the USA Gymnastics inquiry was filed 4 seconds after the one-minute deadline and that all three athletes should be awarded a medal for placing third instead. According to guidelines, a gymnast’s coach has just one minute after the score is announced to make a verbal inquiry.
Over the weekend, the Romanian gymnasts’ inquiry was upheld, stating that the inquiry “was raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline…and is determined to be without effect.” Hours after the ruling, USA Gymnastics appealed it, citing time-stamped video evidence that the inquiry was raised “47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was originally posted.” By Monday evening, however, that appeal was denied.
This happened, and it will never disappear.