USA Gymnastics’ latest appeal to keep Jordan Chiles’ Olympic bronze medal was denied, but the organization pledged to keep fighting on her behalf.
In a statement posted on X, USA Gymnastics announced the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) notified the organization Monday that “rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented.”
Hours after the International Olympic Committee ruled that the Chiles should return her medal because of a score change, USA Gymnastics submitted its appeal with CAS video evidence showing Chiles’ coach submitted her appeal of the judges’ scoring error was within the time limits required — and not four seconds late as CAS had originally determined.
USA Gymnastics stated the appeal process was far from over.
“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.”
According to a statement released by USAG on Sunday night, the federation submitted video evidence that shows U.S. head coach Cecile Landi filed an inquiry 47 seconds after Chiles’ score was published, which is within the one-minute time window. The Romanian Gymnastics Federation initially got the inquiry voided with an appeal to the CAS claiming that the inquiry was filed one minute and four seconds after the score was posted.
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In a statement, USA Gymnastics said its time-stamped video was not available prior to the first decision.
The competition took place Aug. 5 and the CAS upheld the Romanian petition Saturday, voiding the inquiry that gave Chiles an additional one-tenth in difficulty value that pushed her from fifth to third place. The International Gymnastics Federation re-ranked the gymnasts after the decision, putting Romania’s Ana Barbosu into bronze medal position with a 13.700, but left it up to the IOC to reallocate the medals. The organization got in touch with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to facilitate a return of Chiles’ medal.
Chiles was the last gymnast to compete in the floor exercise final, and her coaches had one minute to inquire about her score after it was posted. The inquiry submitted on behalf of Chiles added one-tenth to her score, moving her into third place with a 13.766, after judges decided she should have gotten full credit on a leap that involved a 540-degree turn in the air.
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Chiles helped the United States win team gold medals in Paris and competed all-around in the team final. The floor bronze medal she brought home from Paris was her first individual medal. She also has a silver medal in the team competition from Tokyo.
Since winning her third Olympic medal — her first individual Olympic medal — on Monday, Chiles has returned to the United States, where her post-Games media tour included a stop at the Nasdaq composite, on the “Today” show to announce her return to UCLA, and a conversation with Elmo.
Chiles announced she was taking a break from social media to protect her mental health. She has received both racist attacks and support since the medal controversy began.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
