USA Gymnastics’ appeal to reinstate Jordan Chiles’ Olympic bronze medal was denied Monday, but the organization said they are not giving up just yet.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) notified the organization that “their rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered when conclusive new evidence is presented,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement.
“We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring placement, and medal award for Jordan,” they concluded.
Read it in full below:
Statement from USA Gymnastics on CAS Notice: pic.twitter.com/HoSiKjx9wl
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) August 12, 2024
On Sunday the organization announced that they submitted additional, previously unseen video evidence to CAS in defense of Chiles’ floor routine. The “time-stamped video evidence” shows that head coach Cecile Landi “first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted,” which lands well within the mandatory 60-second deadline.
Landi issued a second statement at the inquiry table 55 seconds after Chiles’ score was posted. Both inquiries were filed within the 60 second time frame allotted, according to USA Gymnastics.
The sports court body previously ruled that Landi’s inquiry was filed four seconds too late.
“The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it,” the gymnastics org’s statement said Sunday.
Chiles was the last to compete in the Aug. 5 individual floor competition and received a score of 13.666, which landed her in fifth place behind Romania’s Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who each earned scores of 13.700. After evaluating Landi’s inquiry into the difficulty value of Chiles’ routine, the judges gave her an adjusted score of 13.766.
The sports court body later advised after the medal ceremony and Biles and Chiles’ viral podium moment that Romania’s Barbosu should be awarded third, Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth place, but ultimately left the decision up to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
Romania’s Olympic Committee requested that all three gymnasts be awarded with a bronze medal.
Chiles will still walk away from Paris a gold medalist for her contributions to the team gold for the all-around competition.