The head of the panel that decided Jordan Chiles should lose her Olympic bronze to a Romanian athlete has been representing the Romanian government in legal disputes for years, it has emerged.
Ana Barbosu was reinstated to third place at the expense of Chiles in Saturday’s decision. Chiles had moved up to third place over Barbosu when her coaches appealed her score in the floor final at the Paris Games. Barbosu was celebrating her bronze at the time and was left crying as Chiles celebrated.
Romania appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), whose panel was chaired by Hamid G. Gharavi, despite his ties to the Romanian government.
This raises a potential conflict of interest claim in an already delicate situation. The New York Times says panel members must fill out a conflict of interest form before reviewing any case and that Gharavi had disclosed his work with the Romanian government. The Times also says Gharavi declined to comment when asked.
Chiles reacted by posting four broken heart emojis on Instagram and said she was taking a break from social media, while her sister said racism was behind the decision.
The Olympic bronze medal dispute between Jordan and Chile has taken a turn for the worse due to accusations of “conflict of interest”
Ana Barbosu is expected to receive the bronze she snatched from Chile in Romania this week
USA Gymnastics said it was “devastated” and vowed to fight the ruling by appealing to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. However, CAS decisions are rarely overturned.
Barbosu, who has been in touch with Chiles via social media, will receive her bronze in Bucharest on Friday.
Chiles won bronze in the women’s floor exercise in Paris when her coach filed a request to challenge the judges’ initial score and her score was corrected from 13.666 to 13.766. Chiles moved into third place, beating Romania’s Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.
Romania took its case to CAS, arguing that the US investigation was not carried out within the one-minute time limit set out in the rules. Romania argued that the Americans had missed that deadline by four seconds.
After Saturday’s ruling went against Chile, the United States later responded that it had video evidence that coach Cecile Landi made the appeal 47 seconds after Chile’s initial score was posted, well within the time limit.
Jordan Chiles posted two statements on social media about the loss of her bronze medal
Barbosu said he hopes to be on the podium alongside Chile at the next Olympic Games
Meanwhile, Barbosu expressed solidarity with Chiles in a statement on social media that read: ‘Sabrina (Maneca-Voinea), Jordan, my thoughts are with you. I know what you are feeling, because I have been through the same thing.
“But I know you will come back stronger. I sincerely hope that at the next Olympic Games we will all share the same podium. That is my true dream!”
“This situation would not have occurred if those responsible had respected the rules. We, the athletes, are not to blame and the hatred directed at us is painful.
«I wanted to end this edition of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the spirit of Olympism, the true value of the world.»
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