The final days of the Olympic Games have taken an unexpected turn for Team USA Women’s Gymnastics. In a shocking twist, two-time Olympian, Jordan Chiles has been stripped of her bronze medal, leaving many fans confused. It’s understandable, considering that you typically hear about medals being stripped due to cheating or doping allegations. Well, not this time. Chiles was stripped of the medal after back-and-forth challenges about her scores. Here’s what happened.
Why Did Jordan Chiles’s Score Change in the First Place?
During the women’s floor exercise final event on Aug. 5, Team USA put on a strong showing — and so did several other gymnasts, including Rebecca Andrade with Team Brazil and Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, who initially seemed to have won bronze.
Barbosu was already celebrating, and many spectators and commentators also seemed to move forward with the understanding that she had medaled. But at the last minute, the scoreboard numbers were revised. Chiles’s score leapt from 13.600 to 13.766, beating out Barbosu’s 13.700 and catapulting Chiles from fifth place to third, leading to gymnastics’ first all-Black podium (Rebecca Andrade in first, Simone Biles in second, and Chiles in third). But the score change left many people wondering: “Wait — what just happened, exactly?”
Let us explain: After the scores were released, the Team USA Gymnastics coaches submitted an inquiry to have Chiles’s score reexamined on the basis that one of the moves she’d performed actually deserved a higher difficulty score. (A reminder about how gymnastics is scored can be found here but briefly: both the difficulty of a particular move and its execution count toward a gymnast’s overall score.)
The move in question was a split leap skill with a 1.5 turn, also referred to as a Gogean. In her original score it hadn’t been credited, per NBC. But, after further review, Chiles was given full scores for the technique — and that nudged her up into third place. While the score change was shocking to spectators — and Barbosu herself — its well within the rules.
Per the Code of Points for USA Gymnastics, “A coach may inquire verbally about the Difficulty Score to the chief D Judge immediately following the posting of the score or before the completion of the performance of the next gymnast. D Panel will conduct a video review, if necessary. If there is still a question, a written inquiry must be submitted to the chair of the Superior Jury by the start of the next rotation. A financial fee accompanies the inquiry, which is returned if the inquiry proves correct. If not, the fee is donated to the FIG Foundation.” According to Yahoo, the coaches shelled out $351.10 to submit an official inquiry for the judges to double-check Chiles’ score.
Why Did Jordan Chiles’s Score Change Back?
Since the initial event, however, the score change was the topic of much debate, particularly with protests from Romania. Then on Aug. 11, the International Olympic Committee deemed that Chiles must return the bronze medal won for the individual floor exercise, reported by NBC.
Why? After Romania lodged a complaint about the appeal made by Chiles’s coach, the Court of Arbitration for Sport determined that the inquiry submitted by Team USA took place too late — four seconds past the one-minute deadline. Chiles posted on her Instagram story about her decision to remove herself from social media to focus on her mental health.
Team USA Gymnastics submitted evidence to counter the CAS claim, including a video with a time-stamp that showed the coach stating her intention to file the inquiry in 47 seconds, per Reuters. In an official statement from Team USA Gymnastics on Aug. 12, the rules for the Court of Arbitration for Sport “do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented.” The statement includes that Team USA Gymnastics will continue to pursue the appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal. Additionally, The New York Times reported that the head of the tribunal pulled together by CAS “has represented Romania for almost a decade in arbitration cases.”
Team USA Gymnastics wrote on X that they are still working full-time to pursue justice for Chiles. Fellow athletes and celebrities have offered up their solidarity and support. “Sending you so much love Jordan,” Biles posted on her Instagram Story. “Keep your chin up olympic champ! We love you!” Other teammates, like Suni Lee, have also spoken out. “All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?? Completely unacceptable. This is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan,” Lee wrote on her Instagram Story. “I got your back forever Jo. You have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an Olympic champion.💐”
Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman shared her thoughts on the matter, too. “I can’t even imagine what this past week has been like for Jordan and the other athletes involved. This is completely devastating. I don’t think people realize these gymnasts work their entire lives for this moment, and it’s supposed to be a celebration,” Raisman said during an interview with Today. “I think it’s so unfair. It’s so cruel. And I don’t think that Jordan should have to give her medal back. The IOC has given more than one medal before, and I think that they should do that now.” With good intentions, rapper Flava Flav has even created Jordan a bronze clock necklace in response to the upsetting news.
While a kind gesture from Flav, it’s pretty hard to beat the real bronze medal — especially when you’ve held it in your hands. In a post-interview with NBC sports correspondent, Zora Stephenson, Chiles — almost voiceless from a non-stop week — said that the bronze medal means “everything” to her, adding that competing in the individual floor event was part of her own “redemption tour.”
Jade Esmeralda, MS, CSCS, is a health and fitness staff writer. A lifelong martial artist and dancer, Jade has a strong passion for strength and conditioning, sports science, and human performance. She graduated with a Master of Science degree in exercise science and strength and conditioning from George Washington University.
