Jordan Chiles’ Olympic bronze medal saga continued on Sunday as USA Gymnastics formally appealed the ruling. Chiles, who won bronze in the individual floor final after her coach Cecile Landi successfully appealed against an increase in her score, was ordered to return her medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled the appeal had been filed too late.
In a statement released on Sunday, USA Gymnastics said it had sent an official letter to CAS requesting a review of the ruling. In addition, the federation sent video evidence showing that Landi made the request for an investigation within the one-minute time limit.
The fact that Landi allegedly filed the appeal four seconds after the deadline was the basis of the CAS decision. According to USA Gymnastics, the time-stamped video shows that Landi did not miss the deadline, but made a request 47 seconds after the result was released and made a second statement 55 seconds after the result was released.
According to the statement, USA Gymnastics did not have access to the video prior to the CAS decision and therefore could not submit it earlier.
After her score was corrected, Chiles jumped from fifth to third place, knocking Romania’s Ana Barbosu off the bronze medal spot. Barbosu, who had already started celebrating, was devastated by the change. Within the next few days, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation filed an appeal, which led to the CAS ruling.
