Chiles removed herself from social media and didn't want to face further harassment from the netizens (Image: X @Jordan Chiles)

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has announced that Ana Barbosu of Romania has been awarded the bronze medel in the women’s floor exercise event in the Paris Olympics 2024, following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) replacing Jordan Chiles of the United States.

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This decision comes after a contentious inquiry process that saw Jordan Chiles initially have her score upgraded only to have it later reinstated to the original medal value.

The controversy began when Chiles’ coach Cecile Landi submitted an inquiry regarding the difficult rating of Chiles’ floor exercise routine as the inquiry was to ensure accurate scoring, but it was submitted 4 seconds after the one-minute time limit resulting in the Romanian Olympic Conmittee’s protest. The Committee argued that the inquiry was “untimely” and should be disregarded.

Later, CAS upheld this appeal ruling that the inquiry was indeed given notice late and therefore the the request should not have been considered. However, Chiles’ original score of 13.666 was reinstated, dropping her to fifth place in the competition. Barbosu, who had initially been awarded the bronze medal before Chiles’ score upgrade, was then officially declared the bronze medalist.

This decision has been a disappointment for  USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, who expressed concern for Chiles’ mental health in the face of online abuse.

Chiles removed herself from social media, and didn’t want to face further harassment from the netizens. The US committees cited the need to protect her mental well-being and condemned the utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks that Chiles has faced, stating that “no athlete should be subject to such treatment.”

The International Olympic Committee has announced that it will reallocate the bronze medal to Barbosu and arrange a ceremony to present her with the award. The US team will return the medal to the Romanian Olympic Committee, bringing an end to this controversy.