American gymnast Jordan Chiles will have to return her bronze medal from the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise final at the Paris Games, the International Olympic Committee announced on Sunday.
The decision comes less than 24 hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled the IOC should strip Chiles of her Olympic bronze, following appeals submitted by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation.
Chiles’ score on the floor exercise put her in fifth place, after which Team USA coach Cecile Landi challenged the result and Chiles’ mark was pushed to a 13.766, enough for bronze.
But the Romanian Gymnastics Federation appealed the result on Monday on the basis that the inquiry was filed four seconds past the one-minute deadline by which it had to have been submitted.
The IOC said in a statement that it would reallocate the bronze to Ana Barbosu, who scored 13.700 for her floor exercise.
“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,” the IOC wrote in the statement.
The International Gymnastics Federation reversed Chiles’ score back to a 13.666 on Saturday, moving Barbosu to fifth and Romanian teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea in fourth. The IOC’s official announcement on Sunday ensured Chiles would have to return her medal as well.
Before the IOC’s ruling, USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee released a joint statement in support of Chiles, and said it was “devastated by the ruling”.
American teammates Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee – and former USA gymnastics phenom Alexandra Raisman – expressed their solidarity.
Chiles, 23, has since written on Instagram that she will take a break from social media to protect her mental health.
