The International Olympic Committee said Sunday that U.S. gymnast Jordan Childs must give up the bronze medal she won in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics after the sport’s highest court overturned an appeal by her coach that saw her move up to third place.
After the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) announced Saturday night that it would respect the court’s decision and promote Barbos to third place, the IOC announced early Sunday morning that the bronze medal from last Monday’s women’s floor exercise final would be awarded to Romania’s Ana Barbos.
The decision came less than 24 hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport invalidated a protest by U.S. coach Cecil Lundy over a goal he made during a match that led Chile to the podium.
The CAS ruled on Saturday that Lundy’s request to have 0.1 points added to Chiles’ score fell outside the one-minute grace period allowed by the FIG.
The special committee noted that Lundy’s question was asked one minute and four seconds after Chiles’ first score was announced.
The IOC said in a statement that it was in contact with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee regarding the return of Chile’s bronze medal and would be in discussions with the Romanian Olympic Committee about a reallocation ceremony to honour Barbos.
CAS reported Saturday that the original rankings should be reinstated, with Barbos in third place, Romania’s Sabrina Maneca Boinea in fourth and Chiles in fifth.
The organization added that the FIG should determine the final rankings “in accordance with the above decision,” but left it up to the federation to decide who will win a medal behind gold medalist Rebecca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the United States.
The FIG said it was up to the IOC to decide whether to reallocate the medals. The IOC confirmed on Sunday that it would respect the FIG’s decision and seek the return of Chile’s medals.
The rapid turn of events has added to what has already been a difficult few days for all three players.
Romanian gymnast legend and 1976 Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci expressed concern about Barbos’ mental state after his disastrous fall from bronze medalist to fourth place.
“I can’t believe they would treat the mental state and emotions of these athletes like this… Let’s protect them,” Comaneci said. Post to X Earlier this week.
Comaneci also criticised the way the judges scored Maneca-Boinea’s routine – she was penalised 0.1 points for going out of bounds, although replays circulating online showed she was just inside the box. Comaneci appealed to the Romanian Olympic Committee, which did so, but the CAS rejected her appeal.
Chilis commented on the decision: Instagram Stories She posted on Saturday that she was heartbroken and would be “taking this time off social media for my mental health, thank you.”
Jordan’s sister, Jazmine Childs, said on Instagram that Childs was stripped of her medal “not because she wasn’t good enough, but because the judges didn’t give her any hard points and forced an investigation.”
U.S. teammates offered their support to Chiles, a two-time Olympian.
“Sending lots of love from Jordan” American star Simone Biles posted on Instagram“Cheer up Olympic champion. We love you.”
“There’s so much talk about the athletes, but what about the judges?” Six-time Olympic medalist Sunisa Lee She posted on Instagram: “Totally unacceptable. This is awful. I feel bad for Jordan.”
USA Gymnastics said in a statement Saturday that it was “shocked” by the verdict.
“We believe that the investigation into the difficulty of Jordan-Childs’ floor exercise was conducted in good faith and in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring,” the organization wrote.
Barbos and Maneca Voinea were tied with 13.700 points in the floor exercise final, both missing out on a medal. Barbos, believing she had won the bronze medal by beating Maneca Voinea on the tiebreaker (higher practical score), began celebrating by waving the Romanian flag.
Chiles was the last athlete to compete and was initially awarded 13.666 points, placing her in fifth place behind Maneka-Boynare. It was announced that Lundy had called for an investigation into Chiles’ score.
“I had nothing to lose at this point so I was like, ‘I’m just going to give it a go,'” Randy said after the ceremony. “Honestly, I didn’t think it was going to happen, but then I heard her scream and I turned around and I was like, ‘You know what?’
The judge allowed Chilis’ appeal, ruling him out over Barbos and Maneka Voinea.
Upon returning to Romania, Barbos insisted there were no problems in Chile.
“I just want everyone to be fair. We don’t want to attack players of any other nationality,” Barbos told reporters. “We players don’t deserve to be treated like that. We just want to do our best and be rewarded according to our performance. The problem lies with the referee’s calculations and decisions.”
Childs’ mother, Gina Childs, slammed critics in a post, saying she was “sick and tired” of the derogatory comments directed at Jordan.
“My daughter is a multi-award winning Olympian with a huge heart and an unmatched level of sportsmanship,” Gina Childs posted, “and yet she is being called horrible names.”
Uncertainty is Beautiful moment After Brazilian star Andrade won his fourth medal in Paris, Chiles and Biles knelt on the medal stand to honor him.
“It was just the right thing to do,” Biles said of the instantly viral moment. louver That in itself suggests it might be worth placing somewhere near the Mona Lisa.
The memory now leaves me with complicated emotional aftertastes.
