Jordan Chiles’ Olympic drama over her bronze medal, explained

One of the most unforgettable moments of the Paris Olympics came in the women’s all-around gymnastics final when USA’s Jordan Chiles thought she’d missed out on the podium, only to have a score review flip the results and move her up from 5th place to give her a bronze.

Now the IOC is demanding she return the medal, stripping her of a bronze and returning her score to its pre-appeal placing. It’s a swirling story involving a stopwatch, third-part video, and it’s not over yet.

What exactly happened when Chiles had her score reviewed?

In Olympic gymnastics there’s an understanding that sometimes judges can makes mistakes, and nations can order a review if they feel a specific element of a routine was missed, or incorrectly scored. When it came to Chiles’ floor routine Team USA felt she completed a split jump with a full turn, which was registered on the scorecard as a half turn. It was a very small element, but the margin between competitors was so close that it made a huge difference.

Judges agreed with USA following the review, and changed the start value of the technique — which awarded Chiles an extra 0.1 points, securing the bronze.

As dramatic as the moment was, this was only the first step in this drama.

Romania lodges an appeal

After medals were awarded Romania lodged a complaint about the score change with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). At the Olympics, the rule is that score appeals have to be filed within one minute of the score being posted, and Romania’s claim was that Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landi, filed the score appeal in 1:04 seconds — making it four seconds beyond the deadline.

Romania purportedly showed CAS evidence that the appeal was late, and the court agreed, informing the IOC that the score never should have been changed — effectively reversing the decision. This meant that Chiles would revert to 5th, with Ana Bărbosu moving back into the bronze spot that she initially thought she won.

On Saturday the IOC announced that they would recognize the CAS decision, and ordered Chiles to hand back the bronze.

USA presents new evidence

It seemed as if Chiles was out of luck. It’s unclear what CAS was shown by Romania that made them believe the appeal was lodged late, but they didn’t really have anything to counter it. However, a new third party video emerged from the stands that U.S. Gymnastics believe showed Landi appealed the score 47 seconds after the official score was posted, not 1:04 as Romania alleged, and CAS agreed with.

This video has not been posted online as far as we know. However, USAG believes it’s the smoking gun which proves Chiles was well within her rights to have he score changed, and therefore keep her bronze medal. The next step is an appeal hearing by CAS, and at this time it’s unclear whether Chiles has returned her bronze medal, or whether it’s still in her possession.

The way Jordan Chiles has been treated is disgusting

Let’s be abundantly clear about how this went down in its most basic form:

1. Judges got Chiles’ score wrong
2. Her coach appealed
3. Judges changed Chiles’ score and awarded her bronze

At no point in this three-step process was Jordan Chiles to blame for ANYTHING, and yet she endured a full week of slander and harassment at the hands of fans claiming she “cheated” or “stole” the medal from Romania. This extended to her family, who shared some of the messages they’d received in the wake of Jordan winning bronze.

From Jordan’s mother, Gina Chiles:

Even more from her sister Jazmin:

Jordan Chiles is reportedly taking a break from social media in the wake of racist comments, predominantly originating from Romanian-based users, or accounts which identify themselves as Romanian, furious that Chiles’ won a bronze medal they thought should be theirs.

Romania finished the games with nine medals, USA with 126.

The next step is in the hands of the courts

It’s unclear how quickly CAS will hear the USA appeal, however the court traditionally moves quickly — especially with a hot-button issue involving a medal, so we could see the next chapter in this story unfold within the next 48-to-72 hours, though there’s a chance this could linger longer.

Even if the final determination is that Chiles’ coach filed the appeal in 1:04 and not 1:00 we all still know Chiles is a winner.