Jordan Chiles may lose her Olympic bronze medal after court ruling, Internet calls it 'absoulely insane'

PARIS, FRANCE: Jordan Chiles could lose her Olympic bronze medal in the floor exercise after a judge for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in favor of two Romanian gymnasts on Saturday, August 10.

The 23-year-old gymnast won bronze in the floor final on August 5, marking her first-ever individual Olympic medal, according to Reuters.

Jordan Chiles' bronze medal controversy

Jordan Chiles initially finished fifth place during the floor final based on the judge's scoring.

However, after a successful inquiry by her coach, Cecile Landi, Chiles was awarded a higher difficulty score, boosting her into third place.

The inquiry centered on a leap in Chiles' routine that involved performing a split in the air while turning 540 degrees.

Landi argued that the difficulty of the leap had been undervalued, a point that the judges agreed with, leading to Chiles' being updated to third place.

Romanian gymnast's protest against Jordan Chiles' bronze medal

The recalculated scores promoted Chiles to the third position, ahead of Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who was originally placed third and fourth, respectively.

The Romanian Olympic committee quickly protested the decision to CAS, seeking to have the original scores reinstated.

On Saturday, August 10, CAS ruled in favor of the Romanian gymnasts, overturning the revised score that had placed Chiles in third.

The bombshell ruling reinstated Chiles' original score of 13.666, placing her back in the fifth position, below Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea who both scored 13.700.

In their ruling, CAS stated, "The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique shall determine the ranking of the Final of the women’s Floor exercise and assign the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision."

Expressing their disappointment with court's ruling, USA Gymnastics stated, "We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise."

"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," read the statement.

Internet criticizes CAS ruling against Jordan Chiles

As Chiles may lose her Olympic bronze medal following the CAS ruling, netizens criticized the court's decision to rule in favor of the Romanian gymnasts.

One user on X wrote, "Taking Jordan Chiles medal away (5 days after the competition is over!) is absolutely insane and corrupt. Judges made a call on the day of. Thats it, decision over. Can’t go back and change the past because some people didn’t like it. That’s not how competition works."

"If the inquiry was filed too late, you shouldn't have accepted it in the first place. It WAS accepted and her score WAS updated. Even if it was late, the judges acknowledged they were wrong. Jordan Chiles deserves that medal," a netizen commented.

"If jordan chiles loses her medal WE TAKE TO THE STREETS," a netizen remarked. Another penned, "There is no way they are taking away Jordan Chiles' bronze medal. There's no way. It was awarded to her at the ceremony, the competition was over, it's been 5 days. I've never seen anything like this. You've got to be kidding me."

"How was the inquiry accepted at all if it was late? how are they only ruling that after the fact? yall need to get up and WORK. appeal," an individual opined.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.