Jordan Chiles Olympic medal controversy: Ana Bărbosu receives bronze medal in Romania one day after Chiles speaks out
The International Olympic Committee and a court of appeals cleared the way for Ana Bărbosu to receive the bronze medal in a ceremony in Romania on Friday. Even so, the battle for Jordan Chiles' bronze medal isn't over.
The gymnast spoke out for the first time on Thursday, thanking people for their support and expressing her heartbreak over the situation. USA Today reported that Chiles still has her bronze medal, and USA Gymnastics has vowed to take the fight to the highest court in Switzerland.
The IOC on Thursday said Romania could move forward with the medal ceremony for Bărbosu, after apparently rejecting a Romanian proposal that all three athletes involved in the dispute be awarded bronze medals.
This all comes after new information emerged about the three-person panel convened by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which ruled to strip Chiles of her medal. The chair of the panel reportedly has active ties to Romania, which would be a clear conflict of interest. Yet he was still allowed to participate in a decision that ruled in Romania's favor.
CAS has responded to those reports and released a statement passing blame for the controversy on to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
Here's the latest and the need-to-know in the ongoing gymnastics bronze-medal saga from the Paris Olympics.
Bǎrbosu receives the bronze medal
Bǎrbosu officially received the bronze medal for the individual floor exercise on Friday. Bǎrbosu, whose score moved ahead of Chiles' after a successful challenge from the Romanian Olympic Committee, received the medal in a "reallocation" ceremony in Bucharest, Romania.
The ceremony came a day after the IOC gave the go-ahead for Bǎrbosu to receive the medal instead of Chiles. Bǎrbosu, like all Olympic medalists, received a stuffed mascot and a poster in addition to her medal.
Chiles breaks her silence
Jordan Chiles issued a statement on social media on Thursday, her first public comment about the medal controversy.
Chiles began by saying she was overwhelmed by all of the love she's received in light of the decision to strip her of the medal. She went on to express gratitude to her family, teammates, coaches, fans, USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee for the support they've shown.
"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," Chiles said. "To add to the heartbreak, the unprompted racially driven attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful. I've poured my heart and soul into this sport and I am so proud to represent my culture and my country."
— Jordan Chiles (@ChilesJordan) August 15, 2024
Chiles did not mention whether she still has the bronze medal in her possession.
Romania moving forward with medal ceremony
The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee said Tuesday that the disputed bronze medal initially awarded to Chiles in Paris will be presented to Bărbosu in a ceremony in Bucharest on Friday. The ROSC made the announcement in a statement released Tuesday.
"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's statement reads.
"The medal will be handed to him by Octavian Morariu, member of the International Olympic Committee for Romania, and by Mihai Covaliu, president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, during an event that will take place on the esplanade of the Olympic House in Bucharest, Friday August 16, starting from 09.30."
The IOC previously stated that the medal would be awarded to Bărbosu in a "reallocation ceremony," and said on Thursday that Bǎrbosu can receive the bronze medal, according to USA Today's Christine Brennan.
"The FIG adjusted ranking is based on a final CAS award, which is binding on all the parties. While a challenge in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court is still possible, the CAS Award is immediately enforceable and Ms. Barbosu is entitled to receive the bronze medal."
Chair of panel reportedly has Romanian connections
The chair of the CAS panel that stripped Chiles of her bronze medal, Hamid G. Gharavi, is a lawyer based in France. According to the New York Times, Gharavi serves as legal counsel to Romania at the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, and has been working with Romania for nearly 10 years.
While the arbitrators on this panel were required to fill out a conflict of interest form, there is wiggle room for panel members to explain why their potential conflict of interest would not affect their ability to make an unbiased decision. This appears to be what happened with Gharavi; the court told the Times in an email that Gharavi "had disclosed his work with Romania in writing and that none of the parties involved in the hearing had objected to his appointment as the panel’s chair."
However, Gharavi's close work with Romania outside of the sports sphere is considered to be a clear conflict of interest by the International Bar Association, according to an expert who spoke with the Times. By those standards, Gharavi should have recused himself from any involvement with this case.
It's unclear if this new revelation will have any impact on the case going forward. CAS rarely reopens cases or explains the reasoning behind its rulings, and has already refused to reopen this case despite the discovery of new evidence. But it issued a fiery response on Wednesday.
CAS issued a statement in response to reports about Gharavi's ties to Romania, declaring them as "outrageous."
"The CAS condemns the outrageous statements published in certain US 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," the statement reads. "As none of the parties involved in this case has challenged any Panel member during the procedure, it can reasonably be assumed that all parties were satisfied to have their case heard by this Panel. Any subsequent criticism is without foundation or merit."
CAS lays blame for controversy on gymnastics federation
In a separate 29-page statement released Wednesday explaining its ruling, CAS stated that it didn't have the authority to reach a conclusion awarding bronze medals to all three of the gymnasts embroiled in the controversy — Chiles, Bărbosu and Bărbosu's Romanian teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea. Awarding multiple bronze medals has widely been floated as the most equitable solution.
CAS says that its hands are tied by FIG rules.
"Therefore, it remains that the allocation of three bronze medals in this Event would be impossible with the strict application of the FIG Rules save if the Parties for a consent award to this effect, which FIG opposes," the CAS statement reads.
CAS concluded that its panel would have awarded three bronze medals if it was in a position to do so and criticized FIG regulations that it states have led to "a great deal of heartache."
"It is not the function of the Panel to apply principles of equity, or to attribute medals, or to determine that there should be multiple recipients of the bronze medal, as some of the Parties have proposed," the statement continues. "If the Panel had been in a position to apply equitable principles, it would surely have attributed a bronze medal to all three gymnasts in view of their performance, good faith and the injustice and pain to which they have been subjected, in circumstances in which the FIG did not provide a mechanism or arrangement to implement the one minute rule it established under Article 8.5."
"If the FIG had put such a mechanism or arrangement in place, a great deal of heartache would have been avoided. The Panel expresses the hope that the FIG will draw the consequences of this case, in relation to these three extraordinary Athletes and also for other Athletes and their supporting personnel, in the future, so that this never happens again."
FIG didn't issue an immediate response Wednesday to the CAS statement.
USAG responds to CAS with blistering statement
Unsurprisingly, USA Gymnastics wasn't happy with CAS's decision. The federation released a statement again laying out its case and promising to continue fighting for Chiles.
USA Gymnastics strongly disagrees with the Court of Arbitration for Sport's detailed decision released today. As noted in the decision, USA Gymnastics did not become aware of the case until August 9 - three days after it was filed, two days past the deadline to submit objections related to panelists, and less than 24 hours before the hearing. This was due to CAS sending case filings to incorrect email addresses. Further, CAS did not send the conflict-of-interest disclosures of any panelist to USA Gymnastics, nor have we seen the disclosures to date. As stated previously, video evidence later made available to USA Gymnastics and submitted to CAS conclusively establishes that Head Coach Cecile Landi verbally inquired 47 seconds after the publishing of the score, within the 1-minute deadline required by FIG rule.
We will pursue these and other matters upon appeal as we continue to seek justice for Jordan Chiles.
What's happening with Chiles' medal?
If the Romanian ceremony is indeed going forward, it doesn't appear that it will do so with the medal that was awarded to Chiles.
There's no indication from USA Gymnastics that it has returned the medal or intends to do so, and Brennan reported Chiles still has the original bronze medal. On Monday, USAG vowed to keep fighting to retain the medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected its appeal that the medal was rightfully awarded to Chiles in the first place. USAG promised to take the fight to Switzerland's Supreme Court.
"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," USAG's statement reads.
How we got here
Chiles initially finished fifth in the floor routine final in the last rotation of the gymnastics competition at the Paris Olympics behind Bărbosu and Maneca-Voinea, who initially finished the event in a third-place tie with scores of 13.700. Bărbosu was initially declared the bronze-medal winner via a tiebreaker over Maneca-Voinea.
Chiles' coach Cecile Landi filed an appeal of the scoring of her routine upon its conclusion, and judges determined that Chiles wasn't awarded full credit for a skill upon review. Her score was adjusted from 13.666 to 13.766, moving her past the Romanian gymnasts into bronze-medal position.
Chiles' score adjustment overturned on technicality
A few days later, the ROSC appealed this decision, and the CAS granted the appeal. CAS didn't determine that Chiles' score adjustment was made in error, but that Landi filed her appeal of Chiles' score four seconds past a one-minute deadline to do so at the conclusion of Chiles' routine. Chiles' score was reverted to 13.666, back to fifth place.
USAG, meanwhile, appealed the CAS decision, citing video evidence that it states shows that Landi filed her appeal within the allotted time. Whatever evidence USAG presented didn't compel the CAS to change its decision.
The IOC responded to the CAS decision with a statement of its own on Sunday that the medal would be awarded to Bărbosu via a "reallocation ceremony."
“The IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania)," the IOC statement reads. "We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal.”
The IOC has not verified that the ceremony the ROSC announced Tuesday is that "reallocation ceremony."
Should Maneca-Voinea actually get the medal?
In a separate appeal to Chiles being awarded bronze, the ROSC argued that Maneca-Voinea was penalized 0.1 points for stepping out of bounds on her routine when she didn't step out. Video shows that she did not.
An additional 0.1 points would elevate Maneca-Voinea's score to 14.8000 past Bărbosu's score and Chiles' adjusted score into bronze-medal position. The CAS dismissed the appeal of Maneca-Voinea's score without explanation, and the ROSC has move forward with a focus on reallocating the medal to Bărbosu.
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation has proposed that three bronze medals be awarded, with Chiles allowed to keep hers. This does not appear to be an option in the eyes of the IOC.
