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The International Olympic Committee and an appeals court have ruled in Romania’s favour, but Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal battle is not over.
Amid promises by USA Gymnastics to take the dispute to Switzerland’s highest court, Romania announced Tuesday that it will go ahead with a medal ceremony for gymnast Ana Bărbosu. This comes after the IOC apparently rejected a Romanian proposal that all three athletes involved in the dispute be awarded bronze medals.
Here’s the latest and what you need to know about the ongoing bronze medal saga in gymnastics at the Paris Olympics.
Romania says it will go ahead with the medal ceremony
The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee announced that the disputed bronze medal awarded to Chile in Paris will be handed over to Bărbosu at a ceremony in Bucharest on Friday.
The ROSC made the announcement in a statement released on Tuesday. The IOC had previously indicated that the medal would be awarded to Bărbosu in a “re-assignment ceremony.” Neither the IOC nor the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) have addressed or verified the ROSC’s Tuesday claim.
“Gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu will take possession of the Olympic bronze medal won in the floor final of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” The ROSC statement reads:.
“The medal will be presented to her by Octavian Morariu, member of the International Olympic Committee of Romania, and by Mihai Covaliu, president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, during a ceremony to be held on the esplanade of the Olympic House in Bucharest, on Friday 16 August, starting at 09.30.”
What about Chiles’ medal?
If the Romanian ceremony does indeed go ahead, it does not appear that it will do so with the medal awarded to Chiles.
There is no indication from USA Gymnastics that it has returned the medal or intends to do so. On Monday, USAG vowed to continue fighting to retain the medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected its appeal that the medal had been rightfully awarded to Chiles in the first place. USAG vowed to take the fight to Switzerland’s highest court.
“We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue all possible avenues and appeal processes, including the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure fair scoring, placement and medal awarding for Jordan,” USAG’s statement read.
How we got here
Chiles initially finished in fifth place in the floor routine final in the final rotation of gymnastics competition at the Paris Olympics, behind Bărbosu and Romanian teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who initially finished the event in a tie for third place with scores of 13.700. Bărbosu was initially declared the bronze medal winner via a tiebreaker against Maneca-Voinea.
Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landi, appealed the score of her routine at the end of it and the judges determined that Chiles had not been given full credit for a skill upon review. Her score was adjusted from 13.666 to 13.766, edging out the Romanian gymnasts and into bronze medal position.
Chiles’ score adjustment was overturned on technicality
The ROSC appealed this decision and CAS granted the appeal. CAS did not find that the adjustment to Chiles’ score had been made in error, but rather that Landi filed her appeal of Chiles’ score four seconds after the one-minute deadline for doing so at the conclusion of Chiles’ routine. Chiles’ score was reverted to 13.666.
Meanwhile, USAG appealed the CAS decision, citing video evidence it says shows Landi filed his appeal within the allotted time frame. Whatever evidence USAG presented did not compel CAS to change its decision.
The IOC responded to the CAS decision with a Sunday’s own statement that the medal would be awarded to Bărbosu through a “reassignment ceremony.”
“The IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania),” the IOC statement read. “We are in contact with the Romanian NOC to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with the USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal.”
The IOC has not verified that the ceremony the ROSC announced on Tuesday is that “reassignment ceremony.”
Should Maneca-Voinea really get the medal?
In a separate appeal for Chiles to receive bronze, the ROSC argued that Maneca-Voinea was penalized 0.1 points for going out of bounds in her routine when she did not. proves that she didn’t do it.
An additional 0.1 points would raise Maneca-Voinea’s score to 14.8000, surpassing Bărbosu’s score and Chiles’ adjusted score into the bronze medal position. The CAS dismissed the appeal of Maneca-Voinea’s score without explanation, and the ROSC has moved forward with a focus on reallocating the medal to Bărbosu.
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation has proposed that that three bronze medals be awardedand Chiles could keep his, something that does not seem to be an option in the eyes of the IOC.
