American gymnast Jordan Chiles was officially stripped of her medal five days after coming third in the women’s floor final behind silver medalist American teammate Simone Biles and leader and gold winner Brazilian Rebeca Andrade.
Jordan Chiles was initially given a score of 13.666 by the judges, placing her fifth on the table behind Romanian duo Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea, scoring 13.700. But the American Team appealed the decision. Chiles’s score was upgraded by 0.1 to 13.766, moving her to third place ahead of the Romanian duo Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea and clinching the bronze medal.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport(CAS) on Saturday overturned the decision to upgrade Jordan Chiles’s score by 0.1. The court cited the penal fault in its ruling as the appeal came outside the 1-minute window allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). In a statement on Saturday, the FIG said it respected the decision of CAS, that the initial finishing order should be restored, and that Ana Barbosu will be restored to third position.
Following the ruling, the International Olympic Committee(IOC) ordered Jordan Chiles to return the medal on Sunday and said they are in contact with the Romanian Olympic Committee to discuss a reallocation ceremony honoring Ana Barbosu.
The decision by the CAS has left Jordan Chiles, USA Gymnastics, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) devasted. In the wake of this, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) issued a statement on Sunday saying: “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 USOPC has indicated that it will appeal the CAS decision in a statement: “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.”
However, USA Gymnastics, in a separate statement, said a video and a letter had been sent to the Court of Arbitration for Sport(CAS), which affirms that the inquiry request by the U.S. Team led by coach Cecile Landi was made 47 seconds after Chiles’ score was officially published, which is within the “1- minute rule” as stipulated by the by FIG.
The aftermath of The Court of Arbitration for Sport(CAS) Ruling
Since the news broke on Saturday, Jordan has revealed on social media that she has been a subject of racial abuse online, a decision which has forced her removal from various social media platforms.
Jordan said in an Instagram Post: “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health. Thank you.”
While Jordan Chile remains silent on the issue, her sister Jazmin has slammed and condemned the racist comments following the CAS ruling and has called for prayer for Jordan Chile.
She said on Instagram: “Please keep Jordan (and my family) in your prayers. Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well.
“They have officially, 5 days later, stripped her of one of her medals. Not because she didn’t win, not because she was drugged, not because she stepped out of bounds. Not because she wasn’t good enough.
“But because the judges failed to give her difficulty and forced an inquiry to be made.
“FOUR SECONDS. Her bronze was stripped over 4 seconds of time that would have never needed to happen if the judges did their job.
“I love you baby sis. And I got yo back no matter what.”
Jazmin continued: “Just so yall aware – in the HISTORY of the Olympics NO ONE has ever been stripped of their medal for this.
“Also – there are only TWO ways you can be stripped of a medal. Cheating or doping.
“She did neither.”
However, Jazmin highlighted in her post that racism is not the reason behind the stripping of her sister’s medal.
She stressed: “And just to make sumn [sic] clear – the racism that’s BEHIND the comments and vulgar and vile comments that are being made toward my sister is what I’m speaking on.
“I’m not calling them young ladies racist not am I saying racism is the root cause of this.
“I’m saying it’s alive and well because in the last 5 days she has been called blacky. A monkey. Ni***r. And much more!! So keep yall little raggedy comments to yall self.
“‘Just give the other girls a bronze and leave it at that! Period”.
