Five days after some of the world's greatest gymnasts stood on the Olympic podium to accept their gold, silver and bronze medals for the women's floor exercise final, a stunning appeal shook up the scores once again and resulted in American Jordan Chiles being stripped of her medal.
Coaches for Romania and the United States filed appeals for Monday's floor final for scores given to Ana Barbosu, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, and Chiles. The decisions from the judges on that day meant that Chiles' score was increased by .1, enough to boost her past the Romanians and into third position for the bronze.
Because the appeal from the U.S. came four seconds after the one-minute deadline, the Court of Arbitration of Sport ruled that Chiles score must be dropped back down and her position lowered to fifth, behind the Romanian competitors. The next day, the International Olympic Committee would officially announce that Chiles would have to return her bronze medal.
Romania's Ana Barbosu will become the new bronze medalist from the women's floor final in Paris.
"The IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania). We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal," the IOC said in a statement reported by olympics.com.
The series of decisions from the arbitration panel, international gymnastics body, and Olympics committee prompted widespread fury and frustration. Critics were furious about the change so many days after the end of competition and what impact that could have on Chiles and other gymnasts.
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Romania, according to NBC News, had requested as part of its appeal that instead of stripping Chiles of her bronze medal, all three gymnasts (Chiles, Barbosu, and Maneca-Voinea) earn a bronze medal each.
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The International Gymnastics Federation said it was the IOC’s call on whether to reallocate the medal. The IOC confirmed Sunday it would respect FIG's decision and seek to have Chiles' medal returned.
What happened to Jordan Chiles?
When the decision came down, Chiles posted an Instagram Story with four broken hearts and said she was taking time away from social media for her mental health.
After the court ruling, Chiles' teammate, Simone Biles, who won gold in the floor event, posted a message of support to Chiles.
"sending you so much love Jordan 🤍 keep your chin up olympic champ! we love you!", Biles posted on Instagram.
Biles accompanied her post, which included a photo of the two gymnasts embracing, with 12 white heart emojis.
"🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍"
USA Gymnastics and the USOPC released a statement saying they are "devastated" and that the inquiry into Chiles' score was "filed in good faith."
What happens to Jordan Chiles' bronze medal?
Chiles must return the bronze medal, which will be allocated to Romania's Ana Barbosu, the IOC said.
The IOC said in a statement it will be in touch with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee regarding the return of Chiles' bronze and will work with the Romanian Olympic Committee to discuss a reallocation ceremony honoring Barbosu.
The FIG said it was the IOC’s call on whether to reallocate the medal. The IOC confirmed Sunday it would respect FIG's decision and seek to have Chiles' medal returned.
