Court Rejects US Appeal in Ongoing Jordan Chiles Bronze Medal Fight

Jordan Chiles of the United States performs on the floor during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France on July 30, 2024. (Charlie Riedel/AP Photo)

An appeal by Team USA fighting a decision to strip Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal for the floor apparatus has been rejected by an international sporting court, saying there is no way to reverse the decision because the rules won’t allow it.

Chiles was stripped of her medal on Aug. 11 after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that an inquiry lodged by coach Cecile Landi, which increased Chiles’s final score, was submitted too late to be considered. As a result, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the bronze to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu instead.

In an Aug. 12 statement, USA Gymnastics said they have been told by the CAS that the “rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented.”

At this stage, Team USA is reportedly considering an appeal to another court and has signaled intent to continue fighting this matter.

“We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan,” Team USA said in its statement.

According to USA Gymnastics, it formally submitted a letter and video evidence to the CAS showing that Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after Chiles’s score was published. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) requires all inquiries about scores to be submitted within a 1 minute deadline to be considered.

FIG regulations allow a coach to challenge a difficulty score, provided it’s done verbally and immediately after the publication of the score. The Difficulty Score starts at zero, and an athlete will earn points by completing the composition requirements and skills with higher difficulty ratings.

Chiles initially received a score of 13.666, placing her fifth before Landi called for an inquiry and review, which saw an extra 0.1 added.

As a result, Chiles’s score was improved to 13.766, awarding her the bronze medal. The Romanian Gymnastics Federation immediately filed an official challenge with the CAS to review the circumstances surrounding the decision to revise Chiles’s score.

The ongoing Chiles bronze medal saga has already carried past the official end of the Paris Olympics, which finished with its closing ceremony on Aug. 11. After several weeks of competition across 32 sports, involving more than 10,000 athletes, Team USA finished the Paris Olympics top of the medal tally, with 126 medals. It tied with China for the most gold medals at 40, but won the most silver and bronze.