(Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Jordan Chiles is taking a break from the public eye amid the possibility of losing her Olympic bronze medal. The gymnast announced her intention to step away from social media after a court appeal dealt a devastating blow to her win in the floor exercise competition.
The Court of Arbitration (CAS) ruled on Saturday (August 10) to void an on-floor appeal that U.S. coach Celile Landi submitted on Monday (August 5).
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won the gold medal, and Simone Biles won the silver. Romania’s Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea tied for third place with a matching score of 13.700, per AP. The judges initially placed Ana third, followed by Sabrina and Chiles, who performed last in the line-up and came in fifth with a score of 13.666.
One minute and four seconds after the judges posted the final score, Coach Landi submitted her appeal. Ana was mid-celebration with her Romanian flag. But Coach Landi argued that Chiles should have a .1 added to her score. Upon review, the judges agreed and upped Chiles’ scoring, placing her above Ana and Sabrina.
On Saturday, the CAS ruled that the original order of winners should be restored. Its ruling is based on a time constraint. Coach Landi had one minute within the score posting to submit her appeal, per rules set by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). She was four seconds over, technically making the appeal invalid.
According to AP, the Romanian Olympic Committee’s president, Mihai Covaliu, wrote a letter of protest to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) asking it to reconsider Sabrina Maneca-Voinea’s score. It claimed an initial challenge was rejected. Judges docked Sabrina a .1 for allegedly stepping out of bounds, a call that video footage has challenged wasn’t valid.
Ultimately, CAS is leaving the decision about Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal to the FIG, which told the Associated Press the announcement is coming in “due course.”
Note that the Romanian Olympic Committee had requested three bronze medals—one for Ana, Sabrina, and Jordan—in its appeal to the U.S. coach’s appeal. Still, the country’s prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, said Saturday’s ruling is “justice…served.” “In the end, the truth prevailed,” Ciolacu reportedly added. Earlier in the week, he had threatened to boycott the closing ceremony due to the Romania gymnast’s fourth and fifth place, calling it a “scandalous situation.”
Meanwhile, Jordan Chiles seems brokenhearted about the possibility of losing her bronze medal. On Saturday (August 10), she shared an Instagram Story post featuring four red, broken heart emojis. A second post featured the message, “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health. Thank you.”
Her sister, Jazmine, also took to social media, blaming “racism” for the CAS’ new ruling. She asked for “prayers” for Jordan and their family.
“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,” Jazmine Chiles wrote on Instagram Story.
After returning to Romania, Ana Barbosu told reporters that her issue didn’t lie with Chiles but with the judges.
“I only want for everybody to be fair, we don’t want to start picking on other athletes of any nationality. We, as athletes, don’t deserve something like that; we only want to perform as best as we can and to be rewarded based on our performance. The problems lie with the judges, with their calculations and decisions,” Ana said amid social media users slamming Jordan Chiles’ bronze win.
The ruling and the question of what happens next to Jordan Chiles’s bronze medal have dampened a historic moment in which three Black women took the full podium in gymnastics.
