In a shocking turn of events on Saturday, August 10, the results of the women’s floor exercise final at the Paris Olympic Games were annulled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The decision of the American gymnast Jordan Chiles’ Score back to 13,666 and Romanian gymnast reinstated Ana Maria Barbosu back to third place.

On August 16, Bărbosu received her bronze medal at a ceremony in Bucharest, Romania.

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation submitted two requests on behalf of its athletes Bărbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea after the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) Technical Committee for Women’s Artistic Gymnastics changed the score following a request from Chiles’ coach. Cecile Landion August 5. Landi felt that Chile’s difficulty level was too low and challenged the judges’ downgrade of her gogean, a split jump with a 1.5 turn. That extra tenth of a point moved her into the bronze medal spot.

CAS ruled that Landi had submitted the request too late, one minute and four seconds instead of the allotted minute. Now, the panel has ruled in favor of Bărbosu and rejected Maneca-Voinea’s request. Since Maneca-Voinea did not submit a request for the neutral deduction for overstepping the limits during the competition (which appears to have been made in error according to video footage), she cannot appeal the deduction to CAS.

Instead of granting the Romanian Gymnastics Federation’s request to award the bronze medal to all three women, the CAS decided that the original rankings would be recognized, with Bărbosu in third place with 13.700, Maneca-Voinea in fourth place with 13.700 and Chiles in fifth place with 13.666.

“The arbitral tribunal ruled as follows:

In CAS OG 24/15:

1. The application of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and Ms Ana Bărbosu of 6 August 2024, as amended on 8 August 2024, is partially granted.

2. The request submitted on behalf of Ms Jordan Chiles in the Women’s Floor Exercise Final was made after the one-minute time limit provided for in Article 8.5 of the 2024 FIG Technical Regulations and is ineffective.

3. The original score of 13.666 given to Ms. Jordan Chiles in the Women’s Floor Exercise Final is restored.

4. The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique will determine the ranking of the Women’s Floor Exercise Final and award the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision.

5. All other applications will be rejected.

In CAS OG 24/16:

1. The application of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and Ms Sabrina Maneca-Voinea of ​​6 August 2024, as amended on 8 August 2024, is rejected.”

While Chile’s fans supported her on social media, the UCLA gymnast also had to endure horrific racist comments. It’s been a brutal week for her while she waited for the result. A joint statement from USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee criticized the CAS decision while supporting the Team USA athlete:

“We are shocked by the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ruling on the women’s floor exercise. The investigation into the difficulty level of Jordan Chile’s floor exercise was submitted in good faith and, in our opinion, was in line with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring,” the statement said.

“Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subjected to constant, completely unfounded and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subjected to such treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who carry them out, support them or instigate them. We commend Jordan for her integrity both on and off the competition field and we continue to stand by her and support her.”

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation also published a response to the verdict on its Facebook account, writing: “We laugh with one eye, we cry with one. Following the memories left by FRG and COSR at the CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has decided that Ana Maria Bărbosu should get the bronze medal back,” they wrote, closing their comments to the public.

The USOPC and USAG have appealed the CAS decision, and that process is likely to be very lengthy. It is a dramatic end to a great week of gymnastics and the impact will likely be felt as the sporting community calls for reforms to the investigation and arbitration rules.

On August 15, Chiles posted a statement on Instagram expressing the pain she felt throughout the process.

“I will never deviate from my values ​​of competing with integrity, striving for excellence, upholding the values ​​of sportsmanship and the rules that dictate fairness. I am proud to cheer for everyone, regardless of team or country. Finding joy again has been a culture shift and I am happy when others embrace it. I feel like I have given everyone permission to be their authentic selves.”

I am now facing one of the most difficult moments of my career. Believe me, I have experienced many. I will tackle this challenge like others – and do everything I can to ensure justice is done. I am convinced that at the end of this journey, those responsible will do the right thing.”

At her medal ceremony, Bărbosu spoke about Maneca-Voinea and Chiles. “I have to think of Sabrina and Jordan at the moment. It’s a difficult situation for us, with so many uncertainties and overwhelming emotions. I hope everyone understands that we didn’t do anything wrong at the Olympic Games.”

Barbosu, who was accused of cheating and theft, is right. The athletes did nothing wrong in this situation, but the attacks on them are largely due to nationalistic sentiments and the public’s lack of understanding of what is going on.

On 24 August, FIG President Morinari Watanabe commented on the controversy. “This tragedy must never be repeated. Since I became FIG President, I have promoted the use of technology in scoring. Unfortunately, this tragedy happened. The use of technology in sport is now taken for granted and the FIG used to be a pioneer in introducing technology to all international federations. But now we are no longer a pioneer. This is because our traditions have prevented us from breaking down our own prejudices. We need challenges. And we need the courage to move forward. It was the lack of courage to take this step forward that led to the tragedy in Paris.”

He repeatedly described the situation as a tragedy. but he failed miserably to take responsibility, apologize or give a clear explanation of what happened and who was involved. His words were empty and only further infuriated the gymnastics community, including Landi who took to social media to speak out against Watanabe’s words, calling them a “very disappointing statement.” She went on to address the FIG and the IOC, writing: “If @gymnastics and @iocmedia think the USA is done fighting, they are wrong. The athletes deserve better, especially after everything they have done for this sport.”

Ultimately, there are more questions than answers:

• The FIG could not even determine who conducted the oral questioning, which “surprised” the panel.
• If you can’t identify the person, how can you confirm after a minute that it was him?
• Is it not possible that this unidentified person took at least 4 seconds from receiving the notification to actually entering the Omega system?
• According to the FIG, the Omega system shows 1 minute and 4 seconds. If that is the case, why are there no measures in place to prevent the review from taking place, being confirmed and new marks being given?

USA Gymnastics says it has evidence that the investigation was initiated after 47 seconds. The CAS’s detailed press release on the decision (available on the CAS website) also includes quotes from detailed discussions with Mrs Donatella Sacchi, President of the Technical Committee for Women’s Artistic Gymnastics within the FIG. USAG, is now pursuing the matter before the Swiss Federal Court.

Kristyn Burtt, Chris Korotky, Megan Roth and Christy Sandmaier contributed to this article. For more on this breaking story, see the 2024 Olympics Commemorative Issue of Inside Gymnastics magazine.

Photos by Ricardo Bufolin for Inside Gymnastics