Why Jordan Chiles and Ana Barbosu should have both received a bronze medal
PARIS — The Court of Arbitration for Sport made a ruling and the Federation of International Gymnastics honored it, but neither wanted to be so bold that they actually wanted to say which gymnast actually won the bronze in Monday’s women's floor final.
Maybe two people did win it: Romania’s Ana Barbosu and the United States’ Jordan Chiles.
The International Olympic Committee made the final determination Sunday and opted to strip Chiles of her bronze and reallocate it to Barbosu. It should have done the right thing and awarded medals to both of them for a mess that has been made that isn’t any of the athletes' fault.
Barbosu certainly deserved the bronze that she initially thought she won when her score of 13.700 ranked her third, behind gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the United States.
The reason she didn’t win originally is because the coach for American Jordan Chiles appealed the judges' degree of difficulty score, believing (correctly) that they failed to give Chiles 0.100 for a split leap — or a tour jeté full. That left her difficulty score at 5.800 rather than the proper 5.900.
When the judges looked it over, they gave Chiles the score she earned. It elevated her from 13.666 to 13.766 and onto the podium with a bronze.
However, Romania appealed the appeal and CAS found that Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landi, did not initiate a “verbal inquiry” within the one minute of allotted time after a gymnast's score first appeared on the scoreboard.
It’s an arcane rule but it is the rule. If Landi came in after the shot clock, if you will, then the appeal shouldn’t be considered and Barbosu should maintain her spot in third.
That’s fair. Weird system, but it’s the system.
That said, Chiles deserved to win a bronze, as well, considering it was a judge’s error that kept her from getting third in the first place. This certainly isn’t her fault.
Had the judges done their job properly the first time around, then Landi wouldn’t have had to appeal and none of this would be a story. Instead, everyone poured through the FIG rulebook looking for loopholes.
Should Chiles have been punished for that?
Or should she have lost a medal she was already awarded because Landi didn’t get over to the judges to make the “verbal inquiry” quick enough. If you watch a replay for the event, it appears Landi leaves the area where Jordan was sitting 46 seconds after the score appears on the scoreboard.
Was she heading to the judges' table? Probably. Should Chiles have lost a bronze because that took more than 13 seconds? Her intent was clear.
“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise. The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement.
Everyone here acted in good faith. It just didn’t work out properly, no matter how detailed the rules.
Romania initially appealed seeking three bronze medals — one for Barbosu, one for Chiles and one for Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who they claimed was punished for stepping out of bounds even though she didn’t.
CAS rejected the Maneca-Voinea appeal without comment.
That still leaves Barbosu and Chiles, two great gymnasts who did nothing to cause this chaos — let alone the emotional roller coaster and online abuse that has come while the alphabet soup of gymnastics organizations sorted it out.
That put the decision in the IOC’s hands. The simple solution would have been the best one: Two bronze medals to two deserving gymnasts.
