After learning that she might lose the bronze medal she won in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics — the only individual medal she won at these Summer Games — the American gymnast Jordan Chiles took to social media on Saturday and posted four broken heart emojis on a black background.
That’s four broken hearts for the four seconds that cost her a bronze medal. Four seconds over which she had no control.
The International Olympic Committee confirmed on Sunday that it would strip Chiles of her bronze medal and give it to Romania’s Ana Barbosu. The decision came after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Saturday that Chiles’s coach had filed a scoring inquiry four seconds too late, according to gymnastics rules.
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee said Sunday it would appeal the reallocation of Chiles’s medal. “We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal,” it said in a statement.
Chiles, who had helped the United States win the gold medal in the team event in Paris, and whose bronze in the floor completed the first all-Black podium in Olympic women’s gymnastics history, was subjected to racist abuse online after the judges’ initial decision to raise her score. That abuse and the stripping of her medal cast a shadow on the closing day of what had otherwise been a highly regarded Games.
Barbosu was in third place in the floor exercise on Monday when Chiles, the final competitor, began her routine. Chiles was given a score of 13.666 points, which put her in fifth place. Barbosu began celebrating her bronze medal.
At the same time, Chiles’s coach, Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, was filing an inquiry with the judges. Canqueteau-Landi said that Chiles had not been credited for one of her leaps, and the judges and the International Gymnastics Federation, known as F.I.G., the governing body of the sport, agreed. Shortly after, the athlete standings on the big screen changed: Chiles suddenly moved up to third place, and the bronze medal. Seeing her name fall to fourth, Barbosu looked stunned, then burst into tears as Chiles celebrated with her teammates.
Romania later appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, asking that Chiles, Barbosu and another Romanian athlete whom they said wasn’t judged correctly, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, receive joint bronze medals. The court did not address that request, saying only that Barbosu should be placed third. The I.O.C. ruled that Barbosu would receive the only bronze medal.
Alicia Sacramone Quinn, the former Olympian who now helps lead the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, wrote on social media: “Absolutely enraged and disgusted by this ruling. An athlete being penalized for somebody else’s mistake on the competition floor is unacceptable to me.”
Under F.I.G. rules, a coach has one minute after a score is posted to lodge a verbal appeal. “Late verbal inquiries will be rejected,” the rules say.
The U.S.O.P.C. said in a statement on Sunday that it would not let Chiles’s medal go without a fight. The organization explained that there were errors in the initial scoring and the subsequent appeals process, including that the U.S.O.P.C. was not given enough time to effectively challenge the decision to give the bronze to Barbosu.
“Given these circumstances, we are committed to pursuing an appeal to ensure that Jordan Chiles receives the recognition she deserves,” the organization said.
The U.S.O.P.C. did not give any details about its appeal, but it is likely to file its case in a Swiss court because the gymnastics federation is based in Switzerland. The process can last weeks, if not months.
The floor exercise was Chiles’s last — and after the qualifying round, only — chance to win an individual medal. During the preliminary round at the Games, she had finished fourth in the all-around and in the vault, technically good enough to qualify her for those event finals. But she wasn’t able to compete in them because of a rule that only two gymnasts per country can qualify for any individual final. Two Americans had qualified ahead of her in each event.
Chiles’s joy after earning a medal in the floor exercise was quickly dampened by racist comments online. She received so much abuse that she decided to step away from social media after posting the four broken hearts. She wrote, “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you.”
The U.S.O.P.C. and U.S.A. Gymnastics said in a joint statement, “Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media” and that they “condemn the attacks and those who engage, support or instigate them.”
Chiles’s mother, Gina Chiles, said Friday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that Jordan had received “racist disgusting comments,” adding, “My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched…and she’s being called disgusting things.”
Jordan’s sister, Jazmin Chiles, posted on Instagram, asking for prayers for Jordan and her family because of all they had been through since the medal ceremony. “Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well,” she wrote.
And Nadia Comaneci, the Olympic gold medalist from Romania who had supported Barbosu on social media after Chiles was moved into third, said on X: “To all the fans around the world, please STOP attacking these young ladies…it is unacceptable and cruel.” She was addressing the online harassment targeted at Chiles, but also at Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea, the other Romanian who had competed in the floor exercise.
Sunisa Lee, the bronze medalist in the all-around in Paris, said on social media: “all this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?? completely unacceptable. this is awful and i’m gutted for jordan.”
Biles, the two-time all-around Olympic champion and Chiles’s closest friend on the team, posted a photo of them hugging after Chiles saw that she’d won the bronze. She wrote, “sending you so much love Jordan. keep your chin up olympic champ! we love you!”
This controversy was not the first of its kind in gymnastics at the Summer Games. In 2004, Paul Hamm of the United States won the all-around gold medal, beating South Korea’s Kim Dae-eun, who won the silver medal, and Yang Tae-young, also of South Korea, who won the bronze.
After the medals were awarded, the South Korean gymnastics federation appealed, saying that the judges had erred on Yang’s score on the parallel bars and insisting that he should have won the gold. F.IG. acknowledged the mistake and suspended those judges, leading the federation president to personally ask Hamm for his medal back so it could go to Yang.
Hamm refused.
After a long legal battle, which ended up in the Court of Arbitration for Sport more than a month later, Hamm got to keep his medal.
