Jordan Chiles’ sister, Jazmin, says racism is behind the decision to strip the American gymnast of her bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.
In a shocking ruling Saturday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said the panel of judges for the floor final erred in allowing an investigation that boosted Chiles’ score and bumped her from fifth to third place.
In a furious response to the news, Jazmin wrote on her Instagram Story: ‘Please keep Jordan (and my family) in your prayers. Racism is real, it exists, it’s alive and well.
‘Five days later, she was officially stripped of one of her medals. Not because she didn’t win, not because she was on drugs, not because she was out of bounds. Not because she wasn’t good enough.
‘But since the judges did not give him any difficulties, they forced him to carry out an investigation.
Jordan Chiles’ sister Jazmin says racism is behind decision to strip US gymnast of bronze
Jasmine Chiles quickly lashed out on social media after learning of the ruling on her sister
‘FOUR SECONDS. They took away the bronze by four seconds, a time that would never have happened if the judges had done their job.
I love you, little sister, and I will support you no matter what.
In a follow-up post, she added: ‘Just so everyone knows, in the HISTORY of the Olympics, NO ONE has ever been stripped of their medal for this.
“Besides, there are only TWO ways you can get a medal taken away: by cheating or doping. She did neither.”
Chiles herself posted three broken heart emojis on her Instagram story and wrote: ‘I’m taking this time and stepping away from social media for my mental health, thank you.’
The CAS wrote in its decision that the initial finishing order should be restored, with Barbosu third, her teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth.
The organization added that the FIG should determine the final ranking “in accordance with the previous decision,” but left it to the FIG to decide who would get the medal behind gold winner Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the U.S.
Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea were left out of the medals in Monday’s floor final After finishing with equal scores of 13.700, Barbosu thought she had won bronze against Maneca-Voinea via a tiebreaker (a higher execution score) and began celebrating with a Romanian flag.
Chiles was the last athlete to compete and initially earned a score of 13.666 that placed her in fifth place, just behind Maneca-Voinea. Landi called for an investigation into her score, saying at the time that there was nothing to lose.
After a review, the judges increased Chile’s total by 0.1. That was enough to edge out Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea and claim the final spot on the podium.
USA Gymnastics said in a statement that it was “devastated” by the ruling.
“The investigation into the difficulty value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was submitted in good faith and, we believe, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring,” the organization wrote.