USA Gymnastics head coach Cecil Lundy filed an investigation to change Jordan Childs’ score 47 seconds after it was announced, instead of 64 points. According to a statement from the group on Sunday:.
According to a statement, letters and video evidence were submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in which USA Gymnastics asked that the 23-year-old Chiles be given back her Olympic bronze medal in the women’s floor exercise, which she was forced to give up after the court determined the investigation was submitted four seconds shy of the one minute deadline.
“Time-stamped video evidence submitted by USA Gymnastics on Sunday night shows that Lundy first requested an investigation at the investigation table 47 seconds after the scores were announced and made a second statement 55 seconds after the scores were first announced,” USA Gymnastics continued in its statement. “The submitted video footage was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision, and therefore USAG did not have an opportunity to submit it in advance.”
It added another twist to an Olympic saga that continues even after the gymnastics events have all wrapped up and wrapped up with the closing ceremony on Sunday afternoon.
Chiles was originally placed fifth in the women’s floor exercise final, but after Lundy’s injury, the scoring was changed and she was moved up to third place behind silver medalist Simone Biles and gold medalist Rebecca Andrade of Brazil. Both Biles and Chiles were seen bowing to Andrade during the ceremony, which drew controversy.
2024 Paris Olympics
However, after Chile’s bronze medal was stripped, Romania’s Ana Barbos moved up to third place.
Chiles received support from Biles, her US teammate Suni Lee and her sister, Jazmyn, who wrote on social media that Chiles had received racist messages.
She also denounced the conditions her brother had been forced to go through in Paris.
“Five days later they officially stripped her of one of her medals,” Jazmine wrote on her Instagram Story. “Not because she didn’t win, not because she was drugged, not because she crossed the line, not because she wasn’t good enough.”
“But the judge didn’t give her any difficulty. [score] And they forced an investigation.”
