Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles could lose her bronze medal in the floor exercise after an Olympic court ruled on August 10 that a scoring change was made in error five days earlier, leading a family member to issue a strong statement against the decision.
The International Gymnastics Federation, the governing body for gymnastics at the Olympics, released a statement on August 10 saying that an initial scoring change in favor of Chiles would be reversed. That pushed Chiles back to her original score of 13.666, moving Romania’s Ana Barbosu back into third place with a score of 13.700 and Chiles back out of a medal spot.
The federation did not determine whether Chiles would have to return her medal, noting that “the reallocation of medals is handled by the” International Olympic Committee. It was not clear when a decision on the medal could be made.
But the decision was met with some immediate backlash, leading Chiles’ sister, Jazmin Chiles, to issue a statement citing “racism” as part of the reasoning for the decision.
Jazmin Chiles: ‘Racism Is Real’
While Jordan Chiles did not immediately respond to the news, her sister took to Instagram to offer an angry statement about the decision that could strip the gymnast of her medal.
“Please keep Jordan (and my family) in your prayers. Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well,” Jazmin Chiles wrote in her Instagram story.
Jazmin Chiles added that the decision had nothing to do with her sister’s performance, saying it was only because of a judging error.
“They have officially, 5 days later, stripped her of one of her medals,” Jazmin Chiles wrote. “Not because she didn’t win, not because she was drugged, not because she stepped out of bounds. Not because she wasn’t good enough. But because the judges failed to give her difficulty and forced an inquiry to be made.”
Jazmin Chiles added that if her sister were stripped of the bronze medal, it would be an unprecedented punishment.
“Just so y’all aware – in the HISTORY of the Olympics NO ONE has ever been stripped of their medal for this,” Jazmin Chiles wrote. “Also – there are only TWO ways you can be stripped of a medal. Cheating or doping. She did neither.”
According to Wikipedia, 11 other Olympians were stripped of their medals for reasons other than cheating and doping, most recently in 2022.
Jazmin Chiles, Jordan Chiles’ sister, says the gymnast was officially stripped of her medal:
“Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well.”
USA Gymnastics Issues Statement on Change
Chiles had initially finished in fifth place in the event, but her coaches, Cecile and Laurent Landi, submitted an appeal on her behalf asking judges to reevaluate a deduction that had been levied against the gymnast. They ruled that Chiles’ initial score of 13.666 should have been 0.1 higher, moving her up to third place and putting her on the medal podium.
USA Gymnastics and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee issued a statement after the August 10 ruling reversing that scoring change, saying that the initial appeal of Chiles’ score was “filed in good faith and … in accordance with FIG rules.”
The committee also took aim at what it called unfair attacks on Chiles on social media.
“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subject to such treatment,” the statement read.
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Gymnast Jordan Chiles’ Sister Issues Strong Statement on Controversial Ruling