USA Gymnastics vows to take Jordan Chiles bronze medal fight to Swiss court after latest appeal denied
Bronze medallist US' Jordan Chiles poses during the podium ceremony for the artistic gymnastics women's floor exercise event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on August 5, 2024. (Photo by Gabriel BOUYS / AFP) (Photo by GABR
USA Gymnastics appeared to be given a defeat in its efforts to fight a decision from the Center of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over its ruling about Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal.
The gymnastics federation appealed the CAS ruling that Chiles’ score in the floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics should be reverted back to a 13.66 score and drop her from third to fifth place in the standings. The CAS said U.S. coaches made their inquiry for the judges to give her 0.1 points back four seconds too late.
USA Gymnastics said Sunday there was video evidence to the contrary and asked the CAS for Chiles’ score of 13.766 to be reinstated. Its request to go over the newly found evidence was denied.
"USA Gymnastics was notified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday that their rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented," the federation said in a statement on Monday.
"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."
Chiles’ score was changed from 13.666 to 13.766 after her performance on the floor last week. It catapulted her from fifth to third over Romanians Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Mancea-Voinea. The U.S. made an inquiry in the final moments which resulted in a score change.
However, Romanian officials protested the score change and the CAS ruled Saturday that Chiles’ score should be reverted to 13.666 because U.S. coaches missed the deadline to file the inquiry by four seconds. However, CAS would put it in the hands of the International Gymnastics Federation to make the final ruling.
Eventually, the IOC determined early Sunday that Chiles should give back her bronze medal. USA Gymnastics said not so fast. The organization said that it had video evidence to show that coaches made two inquiries in the allotted time frame.
Barbosu put the blame on officials over the entire ordeal on Sunday.
"Sabrina, Jordan, my thoughts are with you. I know what you are feeling because I’ve been through the same. But I know you’ll come back stronger," she wrote in a post on Instagram. "I hope from deep of my heart that at the next Olympics, all three of us will share the same podium. That is my true dream.
'"The situation would not have existed if the persons in charge had respected the regulation. We, as athletes, are not to be blamed, and the hate directed to us is painful. I wanted to end this edition of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in the spirit of Olympism, the true value of the world."
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