PARIS — The International Olympic Committee announced on Sunday that U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles is required to return her bronze medal in the floor exercise. This decision comes after the committee confirmed that a coach’s appeal, which allowed her to secure a spot on the podium, should not have been permitted.
Chiles, 23, originally placed fifth in the event on Monday, but U.S. coach Cecile Landi successfully argued that Chiles’ difficulty score had been undervalued. Officials agreed to this adjustment, raising her score by 0.1 to 13.766, which pushed her ahead of two Romanian competitors, sparking outrage from the Romanian team.
In response, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced he would boycott the Olympics closing ceremony in protest.
The IOC stated it would comply with a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which determined that Landi’s appeal was submitted 64 seconds after the scores were published, exceeding the one-minute limit for such actions. Consequently, 18-year-old Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu will now be awarded the bronze medal.
“In light of the CAS ruling regarding the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Final and the adjustment of standings by the International Gymnastics Federation, the IOC will reassign the bronze medal to Ana Bărbosu (Romania),” the IOC said in a statement on Sunday. “We are coordinating with Romania’s National Olympic Committee to organize the medal reallocation ceremony and with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee regarding the return of the bronze medal.”
It remains unclear how Chiles will return the medal, as she has already departed France and appeared on NBC’s “TODAY” show in New York City on Thursday.
Chiles still retains a gold medal from the women’s team all-around competition, along with a silver medal from the Tokyo Olympics in the same event.
“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding the women’s floor exercise,” said USA Gymnastics in a statement on Saturday night. “The challenge to the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise was submitted in good faith, believing it complied with FIG rules to ensure fair scoring.”
The U.S. gymnastics governing body also stated that Chiles has faced “consistently baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media” since the situation emerged.
“No athlete should endure such treatment,” they added in the statement. “We denounce these attacks and those involved in them. We applaud Jordan for her integrity, both in and out of competition, and we continue to support her.”
In a poignant message on Instagram, Chiles shared images of four broken hearts and announced her decision to take a break from social media for her mental well-being. “I am taking the time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you,” she wrote.