Jordan Chiles was visibly elated after learning she had won a bronze medal in the women’s floor routine apparatus on Aug. 5, jumping up and down with her coach, Cecile Landi, who had successfully appealed what she thought was a judge’s error on Chiles’ difficulty score.
However, that elation appears to be short-lived, as the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Saturday that Landi’s appeal was filed too late and, therefore, invalid.
Chiles was originally given a 5.800 difficulty score for what Landi claimed was a 5.900 difficulty-scored routine, landing her in fifth after her performance.
But after what was at the time a successful appeal to bump Chiles’ score up, she moved into third and earned the bronze — a devastating development for Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, who originally thought she had made the Olympic podium.
After the court’s ruling, the official Olympic standings will forthwith reflect Chiles in fifth and Barbosu in third — the original scoring results before Landi’s appeal.
Now Chiles, four days after she received the medal, might be forced to give it back if the Federation of International Gymnastics determines it necessary, per the ruling.
U.S. Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee stood behind Chiles, blasting the court’s decision in a statement, saying the appeal was “filed in good faith” and, they believed, in accordance with the rules.
It is unclear what may come next in the process, but Romanian gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci, who came to Barbosu’s defense, endorsed the idea suggested by her country’s delegation that all the athletes who finished third through fifth should receive bronze medals, as they shouldn’t be penalized for the judges’ original error.
