American gymnast Jordan Chiles ordered to return floor exercise bronze medal days after event
FOX NewsAug 15
USA Gymnastics Loses Appeal for Chiles to Keep Olympic Bronze Medal
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Above: Jordan Chiles of Team USA looks on ahead of the apparatus floor final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France. Image copyright: Naomi Baker/Staff/Getty Images Sport via Getty Images
The Facts
USA Gymnastics said Monday that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will not reconsider an arbitral award for Jordan Chiles, effectively rebuffing an appeal for Chiles to keep her Paris 2024 bronze medal for the women's floor routine.
This comes as the Olympian was asked to return the medal after an arbitral panel partially upheld on Saturday a petition by one of her Romanian opponents, Ana Bărbosu, to restore the initial finishing order of the final on Aug. 5.
The Spin
Narrative A
The decision regarding Jordan Chiles' bronze medal points to CAS being a secretive court full of cronies and insiders. Given that the so-called presiding arbitrator has long worked for Romania, an obviously interested party in this case, USA Gymnastics has no other option than appealing to the Swiss courts against CAS.
Narrative B
The rules are harsh but they are the rules. While Team USA may have filed an inquiry on the behalf of Jordan Chiles into the difficulty score of her floor exercise routine in good faith, this request failed to meet the one-minute deadline and must be considered invalid.
