Athletics

Jordan Chiles appeals to Swiss supreme court over stripping of Olympic bronze

Romanian athlete was awarded bronze over Chiles and IOC ordered American to return Olympic medal

Jordan Chiles is asking Switzerland’s supreme court to overturn a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Photograph: Naomi Baker/Getty Images
Tue Sept 17 2024 - 10:04

Jordan Chiles is asking Switzerland’s supreme court to overturn a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that stripped the gymnast of a bronze medal in the floor exercise at the 2024 Olympics.

Chiles, with the support of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, filed the appeal on Monday.

Chiles was initially given the bronze in Paris after an appeal over how the judges scored her routine was accepted and she moved up from fifth to third place. However, the Romanian Olympic Committee said the appeal had been filed four seconds after the one-minute time limit. Cas then voided Chiles’s appeal and the IOC ordered the American to return the medal. Romania’s Ana Barbosu was promoted to third while Chiles dropped back to fifth. The 23-year-old American received significant abuse on social media, some of it racist.

Chiles’s appeal maintains that the Cas hearing violated her “right to be heard” by refusing to allow video evidence that Chiles and USA Gymnastics believe showed Chiles’s appeal in Paris was within the one-minute limit. Chiles’ appeal also argues that Hamid G Gharavi, president of the Cas panel, has a conflict of interest due to past legal ties to Romania.

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USA Gymnastics wrote in a statement on Monday night that it made a “collective, strategic decision to have Jordan lead the initial filing. USAG is closely coordinating with Jordan and her legal team and will make supportive filings with the court in the continued pursuit of justice for Jordan.”

The appeal is the next step in what could be a months- or years-long legal battle.

Last week, Chiles spoke about the emotional fallout after she was stripped of the bronze. “The biggest thing that was taken from me was, it was the recognition of who I was. Not just my sport, but the person I am,” she said.

Chiles said that being punished despite following procedures had been hard to process. “I followed the rules. My coach followed the rules. We did everything that was totally, completely right,” Chiles said.

The fallout from the saga also tarnished what had been a touching moment at the medal ceremony where Chiles was initially awarded bronze. Chiles and her US teammate, Simone Biles, knelt to honor Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who won gold in the event. It had been the first time in the Olympic floor exercise that all three medalists were Black.