The IOC says it has asked the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to arrange a “reallocation” ceremony after a decision to strip Team USA’s Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal from Monday’s controversial floor final.
Chiles was the last athlete to compete in the eight-gymnast floor final, with her routine initially awarded a score of 13.666, enough for fifth place. Athletes have the right to request a review of the scores handed down by the judges, which Chiles and her coaches requested on the basis that her difficulty score did not credit one of the skills in her routine.
That review was granted by the judges, with Chiles awarded an extra tenth, enough to put her in bronze medal position ahead of Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, who was already celebrating winning bronze when the decision was announced.
Barbosu burst into tears after being relegated to fourth place. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu described the move as “scandalous” and said he would boycott tonight’s closing ceremony.
The Romanian Olympic Committee appealed the scoring to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and yesterday their appeal was granted on the basis that Team USA’s request for a review of Chiles’ score was filed four seconds later than allowed in the rules.
As a result of CAS’s ruling, Chiles’ original score has been reinstated, dropping her back to fifth behind the two Romanian gymnasts, making Barbosu the bronze medalist.
Romania had requested as part of its appeal that instead of the bronze medal being taken away from Chiles, three bronze medals should be awarded to Chiles, Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, another Romanian gymnast.
Romania had also appealed Maneca-Voinea’s score to the CAS after she was penalized for stepping out of bounds when replays showed she hadn’t. Maneca-Voinea would have been the bronze medalist had she not been penalized, regardless of the outcome with Chiles, but the CAS rejected that appeal given her coaches did not ask for a review of that deduction during the event.
“Following the CAS decision with regard to the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Final and the amendment of the ranking by the International Gymnastics Federation, the IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania),” the IOC said in a statement.
“We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal,” it added.
After the CAS decision was announced, Chiles posted four broken-hearted emoji on her Instagram story, adding that she was taking herself off social media for the time being for her mental health. The 23-year-old had been on the receiving end of social media abuse since the controversy over the scoring of her routine erupted.
