Jordan Chiles released her first public comments since losing her bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics in a controversial saga that unfolded over the weekend, saying she is now confronted by "one of the most challenging moments" of her career.
"I am overwhelmed by the love I have received over the past few days," Chiles began her statement in a message posted to X.
Chiles expressed gratitude to her family, teammates, coaches and more "for their unwavering support during this difficult time."
"While celebrating my Olympic accomplishments, I heard the devastating news that my bronze medal had been stripped away. I had confidence in the appeal brought by USAG, who gave conclusive evidence that my score followed all the rules. This appeal was unsuccessful," her statement read. "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."
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Chiles went on to address the social media attacks she said she received in wake of the last-minute score change at the heart of the medal debate.
"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," she said. "I will never waver from my values of competing with integrity, striving for excellence, upholding the values of sportsmanship and the rules that dictate fairness. I have taken pride in cheering on everyone regardless of team or country. Finding joy again has been a culture shift and I love seeing others embrace it. I feel like I have given everyone permission to be authentic to who they are."
Chiles said she is "now confronted with one of the most challenging moments of my career."
"Believe me when I say I have had many. I will approach this challenge as I have others - and will make every effort to ensure that justice is done. I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in control will do the right thing," she said.
The future of her medal still hangs in the balance.
Despite new video evidence submitted by Team USA, the Court of Arbitration for Sport informed USA Gymnastics on Monday that its decision to reverse Jordan Chiles' bronze medal-winning score will remain.
"We are deeply disappointed by the notification," USA Gymnastics wrote in a post on X.
USA Gymnastics said CAS notified them Monday that the court's "rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented."
Still the team vowed to keep fighting, saying they "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."
The medal debate is now the sport’s highest-profile controversy since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the site of the biggest scandal in Olympic gymnastics history.
Chiles is the only gymnast in history to be stripped of an Olympic medal for reasons other than age falsification or failed drug tests. Some of the problems in Sydney lay elsewhere.
Here's a look at what happened and when:
Jordan Chiles sees last-minute score change to secure bronze medal
Chiles qualified third in women's floor exercise and competed last in the eight-woman final, where the order was determined randomly in advance.
The 23-year-old finished her routine and was awarded a 13.666, which was fifth just behind Romania's Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea at 13.700.
Cecile Landi, who is Chiles' personal coach and also served as coach for Team USA in Paris, appealed to the judges to have an element restored to Chiles' routine.
Judges approved the appeal, boosting Chiles' score by .1, good enough for Chiles to earn her third career Olympic medal to go with the team silver she won in Tokyo in 2021 and the team gold she helped the U.S. capture in Paris.
Romania appeals Jordan Chiles’ score
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation asked CAS to review the procedure surrounding Landi's appeal of Chiles' score.
While Barbosu was relatively quiet in the aftermath, Maneca-Voinea was not.
International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) guidelines require coaches to make any appeal of a score within one minute of the score being posted.
She used her social media accounts to highlight what she believed was incorrect scoring during her routine. The judging panel dinged her 0.1 point for stepping out of bounds while spinning around to start a tumbling pass.
Video evidence seemed to indicate that Maneca-Voinea's heel did not actually step on the boundary. The Romanian federation also asked CAS to restore 0.1 to Maneca-Voinea’s score for a penalty that was given to her “without basis.”
Maneca-Voinea put together an aggressive campaign on social media, asking for justice.
Barbosu asked for calm earlier in the week, blaming the judging panel and not the gymnasts
Court rules in Romania's favor -- in part
CAS ruled Saturday that Team USA coach Landi's inquiry to have 0.1 added to Chiles’ score came outside the 1-minute window. The CAS ad hoc committee wrote that Landi’s inquiry came one minute, four seconds after Chiles' initial score was posted.
CAS wrote Saturday that the initial finishing order should be restored, with Barbosu third, Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth. The organization added the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) should determine the final ranking “in accordance with the above decision,” but left it up to the federation to decide who would get the medal behind gold winner Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the U.S.
The request regarding Maneca-Voinea's score, however, was denied in part because her coach did not appeal the score in real-time during the meet.
Chiles leaves social media
Chiles, who left Paris after the competition to return home to the U.S., went dark on social media shortly before the CAS decision became public.
Chiles posted on X not long after the final that “it's funny how some people can still never be happy for someone.”
But in her Instagram story Saturday, the Olympic gymnast posted a series of broken heart emojis and said she'd be "removing myself from social media for my mental health."
The two-time Olympian had been subject to attacks on her various social media platforms in recent days, with some critics suggesting she give the medal back.
USA Gymnastics, in a joint statement with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, said Chiles had been subject to "consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media."
"No athlete should be subject to such treatment," the statement read, in part. "We condemn the attacks and those who engage, support or instigate them. We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her."
Chiles’ mother, Gina Chiles, called out the critics in a post, writing she was “tired” of the derogatory comments being leveled at Jordan.
“My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched,” Gina Chiles posted. “And she’s being called disgusting things.”
Barbosu made it a point after returning home to Romania to say she had no problem with Chiles.
“I only want for everybody to be fair, we don’t want to start picking on other athletes of any nationality,” Barbosu told reporters. “We as athletes don’t deserve something like that, we only want to perform as best as we can and to be rewarded based on our performance. The problems lie with the judges, with their calculations and decisions.”
American star and two-time Olympic champion Simone Biles encouraged Chiles — a longtime friend — to “keep her chin up.” U.S. standout and six-time Olympic medalist Sunisa Lee chimed in late Saturday, putting the onus on the judges and calling the outcome “unacceptable.”
IOC says Jordan Chiles will have to return her bronze medal
FIG said Saturday night it would respect the court's decision and elevate Barbosu of Romania to third. The International Olympic Committee confirmed the ruling Sunday, announcing that it was reallocating the medal from Monday's final.
FIG said while the initial order was restored, it was up to the IOC to determine what would happen with the medals.
The IOC said in a statement it would be in touch with the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee regarding the return of Chiles' bronze and will work with the Romanian Olympic Committee to discuss a reallocation ceremony honoring Barbosu.
The decision is in line with how the IOC typically views medal allocation.
At the Olympics, the governing body of each sport manages the competition and decides the results. The IOC typically accepts that result — once appeals to CAS are completed — and formally awards the medals.
US Olympic Committee announces plans to appeal
“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee statement said.
The committee revealed it plans to appeal the ruling.
“The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision,” said a USOPC statement, which was released Sunday.
It was unclear the exact process the appeal would take first. The two potential places the USOPC could take the appeal would be to Switzerland’s highest court, the Swiss Tribunal, or the European Court of Human Rights.
USA Gymnastics reports new video evidence, petitions for court's ruling to be reversed
USA Gymnastics released a statement Sunday afternoon saying it submitted "additional evidence" to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, just one day after the court ruled to reverse Chiles' bronze medal-winning score.
According to USA Gymnastics, new video evidence shows the first inquiry into Chiles' score following her final floor performance well within the one-minute deadline.
The video evidence reportedly shows Landi's first request to file an inquiry came in at 47 seconds after the publishing of the score.
"The time-stamped, video evidence submitted by USA Gymnastics Sunday evening shows Landi first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was originally posted," the statement from USA Gymnastics read. "The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal's decision and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it."
USA Gymnastics said it sent a letter, along with the video, requesting the court revises its ruling and reinstates Chiles' score.
