As Jordan Chiles’s medal saga continues, Romanian gymnast receives her bronze

Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu has officially received an Olympic bronze medal for the floor exercise after it was stripped from American Jordan Chiles amid a scoring controversy that has continued more than a week after the competition in Paris ended.

Barbosu received the medal Friday in Bucharest, Romania’s capital city. Her reception comes a day after Chiles shared a social media post addressing the matter Thursday.

“I am overwhelmed by the love I have received over the past few days. I am also incredibly grateful to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, [USA Gymnastics], and the [U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee] for their unwavering support during this difficult time,” Chiles said.

“While celebrating my Olympic accomplishments, I heard the devastating news that my bronze medal had been stripped away. I had confidence in the appeal brought by USAG, who gave conclusive evidence that my score followed all the rules. This appeal was unsuccessful. I have no words. This decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey. To add to the heartbreak, the unprompted racially driven attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful.”

In the floor final Aug. 5, Chiles’s routine earned a 13.666, which put her in fifth place. Afterward, her coach filed an inquiry to dispute a gymnast’s difficulty score, and upon review, Chiles’s score increased by 0.1 to 13.766. The revised score pushed Chiles into third and dropped Barbosu to fourth.

Barbosu and the Romanian federation appealed the change, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled Aug. 10 that the inquiry that benefited Chiles had been filed after the one-minute deadline. On Sunday, six days after the floor final, the International Olympic Committee said Chiles had to return her medal and Barbosu would receive the bronze instead. (Romanian officials had asked for both gymnasts to be given bronze.)

Later Sunday, USA Gymnastics said it submitted to CAS time-stamped video proving Chiles’s coach initiated the inquiry 47 seconds after the score was posted. USA Gymnastics said it did not have this video footage before CAS ruled in favor of Barbosu and thus did not submit it then.

CAS said Monday that it would not reconsider its ruling that led to the revocation of Chiles’s bronze medal. That same day, USA Gymnastics responded to the decision in a statement.

“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,” the organization said.

Another detail in the saga emerged Tuesday when the New York Times reported that Hamid Gharavi, the head of the CAS panel that made the decision, has represented the Romanian government in separate arbitration cases for almost a decade.

The following day, CAS said it “condemns the outrageous statements published in certain U.S. media alleging, without knowledge of the above and before review of the reasoned award, that the Panel, and more particularly its chairman, was biased due to other professional engagements or for reasons of nationality.”

Also on Wednesday, CAS released a document that showed USA Gymnastics and Chiles’s coach did not object to her opponent’s assertion that they had missed the one-minute deadline to ask for Chiles’s score to be reconsidered. The document also showed that days passed before USA Gymnastics was officially informed of the effort to challenge Chiles’s medal, giving U.S. officials little time to prepare for the hearing - a lapse that could provide grounds for Chiles to appeal the decision.

In response, USA Gymnastics reiterated that it “strongly disagrees” with the court’s decision and will “continue to seek justice for Jordan Chiles.”

Then came Chiles’s message Thursday on social media.

“I am now confronted with one of the most challenging moments of my career. Believe me when I say I have had many,” she said. “I will approach this challenge as I have others - and will make every effort to ensure that justice is done. I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in control will do the right thing.”

Emily Giambalvo contributed to this report.