USA Gymnastics head coach Cecile Landi submitted the motion to change Jordan Chiles’ score 47 seconds after it was announced as 64. According to a statement by the organization Sunday.
A letter and video evidence were submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the statement said, and USA Gymnastics requested the return of Chiles’ bronze medal in the women’s Olympic floor exercise. Chiles was forced to return the medal after the court ruled that the request was allegedly submitted four seconds after the one-minute deadline had expired.
“The time-stamped video evidence provided by USA Gymnastics on Sunday evening shows that Landi first made her request for an investigation at the examination table 47 seconds after the result was released, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the result was initially released,” USA Gymnastics continued in its statement. “The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the Tribunal’s decision and therefore USAG did not have the opportunity to submit it previously.”
This added another complication to the ongoing Olympic saga, which continued even after the conclusion of all gymnastics competitions and the closing ceremony on Sunday afternoon.
Chiles originally placed fifth in the women’s floor final, but after Landis’ injury, a scoring change moved her up to third place – behind Simone Biles, who took silver, and gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil. The trio created a viral scene during the ceremony when Biles and Chiles both bowed to Andrade.
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When Chiles was stripped of her bronze medal, Romanian Ana Barbosu moved back up to third place.
Chiles received support from Biles, her U.S. teammate Suni Lee and her sister Jazmin, with Jazmin writing on social media that Chiles had received racist messages.
She also criticized the situation her sister had to deal with in Paris.
“Five days later, they officially stripped her of one of her medals,” Jazmin wrote in a post on her Instagram story. “Not because she didn’t win, not because she was on drugs, not because she left the field. Not because she wasn’t good enough.”
“But because the judges did not give her a difficulty (score) and forced an investigation.”
