Jordan Chiles May Lose Her Olympic Bronze Medal After Judges Rule to Reinstate Her Previous Score

Mar. 15, 2025

Jordan Chiles.Photo:Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images

Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images

Jordan Chilesmay lose her Olympic bronze medal in floor after a judge for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in favor of two Romanian gymnasts on Aug. 10.

Chiles, 23,won bronze in the floor final, her first-ever individualOlympicmedal, on Monday, Aug. 5. She initially finished the event in fifth, based on the judges' scoring, but her coach quickly submitted a successful inquiry into the decision that put her on the podium.

The judges agreed with Coach Cecile Landi that Chiles' difficulty score had been too low, specifically regarding a leap that involved performing a split in the air while turning 540 degrees.

Chiles was updated to third place, ahead of Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu — who had initially won bronze — and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.

The Romanian Olympic committee protested the decision to CAS, who on Saturday decided to reinstate Chiles' original score of 13.666. That put her back in fifth place, below the Romanian gymnasts who both finished with 13.700 scores.

Ana Barbosu.Daniela Porcelli/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

Daniela Porcelli/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

“The Fédération 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,” CAS said in their ruling.

USA Gymnastics expressed their disappointment with the decision in a statement shared with PEOPLE.

Before the ruling was released, Chiles posted a series of heartbroken emojis on her Instagram Stories. After it came out, she added that she was getting off social media.

“I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”

Jordan Chiles.Jordan Chiles/Instagram

Jordan Chiles/Instagram

USA Gymnastics added in their statement that Chiles had been receiving hateful messages online accusing her of being a cheater, which her mom had called out on Friday.

One day after the competition, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee said on Facebook that they “sent a letter of protest to the International Gymnastics Federation… to re-evaluate the objection of Sabrina Voinea Maneca’s ground exercise.”

“Mediating the case of the Romanian sport at the international level, her public declaration to give up practicing this sport as a result of today’s decision morally obliges the decision-makers to re-analyze, ground and communicate the final decision," the committee wrote in the post.

Chiles' Team USA coachCecile Landi pushed back on Thursday against allegationsthat the gymnast cheated, and said she believes the judges made the correct decision in reevaluating Chiles' score.

“Do I feel bad for the Romanian athlete? Of course I do!” she wrote. “It was so sad and heartbreaking to see but it is the sport!”

“Jordan won this bronze medal and didn’t steal anything from anyone,” she continued. “I simply did my job and fought for my athlete.”

source: people.com