USA Gymnastics has launched a fresh bid to win back Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal just hours after she was ordered to hand it over to Olympic officials.
American officials submitted a letter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the latest twist in an increasingly embarrassing saga that has rumbled on for a week and threatens to continue well beyond Paris 2024.
Chiles stood on the podium after a dramatic conclusion to the individual floor exercise final, with Team USA successfully protesting her score to put her ahead of Romanian rivals Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.
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Romania appealed the final standings to the CAS on the basis that the US inquiry missed the one-minute deadline by four seconds, and the panel found that to be the case — striking out the successful protest
The FIG followed the CAS judgement and adjusted the rankings to place Barbosu in third, with the IOC then confirming it would contact the US and Romanian governing bodies to coordinate a medal handover.
But USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic Committee have now sought to have the CAS reconsider its judgement based on new video evidence.
“USA Gymnastics on Sunday formally submitted a letter and video evidence … conclusively establishing that head coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of the score, within the one-minute deadline required by FIG rule,” it said in a statement.
“In the letter, USA Gymnastics requests that the CAS ruling be revised and Chiles’ bronze-medal score of 13.766 reinstated.”
The statement said the time-stamped video “shows Landi first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was originally posted”.
“The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it,” the statement concluded.
It is unclear if that is grounds to reopen the case, with a separate court case one option.
The USOC is firmly behind USA Gymnastics.
“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed,” the USOC said in a statement.
“The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision.”
The saga sets the stage for a long-term battle between the three respective gymnastics organisations, CAS and IOC.
The FIG returned Barbosu to third position after the CAS ruling but appeared to take a stand on the medal itself.
“Reallocation of medals is the responsibility of the IOC,” the FIG said.
One report claimed Romania and the US agreed to share bronze but the FIG and IOC declined, leaning on the results processes.
The expected lengthy process now throws a cloud over Chiles, Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea.
Chiles, who won team gold in Paris prior to the individual event, has already said she is looking out for her wellbeing, posting an emoji of a broken heart after the CAS ruling.
“I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you,” she wrote.
Barbosu sent a message of support to Chiles and Maneca-Voinea on Instagram as she celebrated her newly acquired bronze medal.
“My thoughts are with you. I know what you are feeling because I’ve been through the same. But I know you’ll come back stronger,” Barbosu wrote.
“I hope from deep of (the bottom of) my heart that at the next Olympics, all three of us will share (the) same podium. This is my true dream!
“This situation would not have existed if the persons in charge had respected the regulation.
“We athletes are not to be blamed and the hate directed to us is painful. I wanted to end this edition of the Olympics in the spirit of Olympism, the true value of the world.”