Jordan Childs' fight to reclaim her Olympic bronze medal continues.
Chilis has formally appealed to Switzerland's Supreme Court to overturn the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to strip her of her third place in the women's floor final.
The drama over the bronze medal has continued long after the Summer Olympics ended in Paris last month, moving the issue out of the sporting arena and into the legal arena.
In a press release, Chiles' lawyers said the American gymnast is asking the court to overturn the CAS decision, arguing that procedural issues violated Chiles' “right to express her opinion” and that she was not properly informed of potential conflicts of interest by the chair of the CAS committee that ruled on Chiles' case.
Hamid Garavi previously served as a litigation attorney in Romania, the home country of rival Ana Barbos.
“Jordan Childs' appeal asks a simple legal question for the international community: Should we sit back and watch as Olympians are stripped of their medals because of fundamental unfairness in a special arbitration process, when they have done nothing but the right thing? The answer to that question should be no. Every part of the Olympic Games, including the arbitration process, should uphold fair play,” Childs' lawyer, Maurice M. Sue, said in a statement.
USA Gymnastics expressed support for the appeal in a statement, saying it was a “collective” and “strategic decision” by Chiles' legal team to file the initial appeal.
“USAG is working closely with Ms. Jordan and her legal team and will be filing supporting papers with the court to pursue justice for Ms. Jordan,” the statement said.
The saga of the bronze medal has produced a long and winding battle.
Chiles was stripped of her bronze medal after the CAS ruled that a score appeal during the women's floor exercise final was not filed within the one-minute time limit and revised the score to give Barbos third place.
U.S. officials have raised procedural issues with how the CAS hearing was handled, including that USA Gymnastics was not formally notified of Romania's appeal for several days and that the CAS did not contact the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee until the day before the hearing.
Swiss courts can only hear appeals on limited grounds, based on procedural issues.
Chile plans to file a further appeal “with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court for additional and alternative remedies”, and both appeals could potentially lead to a retrial at CAS, a press release from the player's lawyers suggested.
