Jordan Chiles controversy: Sports authority denies bias in bronze medal ruling – National

As the drama surrounding Jordan Chiles continues to unfold, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has denied “scandalous” reports of bias in its decision to strip the American gymnast of her bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.

During the Olympic gymnastics competition on August 5, Chiles was honored with a third-place finish on the floor exercise after USA Gymnastics coach Cecile Landi requested a review of her score, raising Chiles’ score from 13.666 to 13.766. The 0.1 increase in difficulty moved Chiles within touching distance of Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu, who was bumped off the podium and fell to fourth place.

The Romanian Olympic Committee later appealed the scoring.

On Sunday, six days after Landi requested a floor evaluation, CAS declared Bărbosu the rightful bronze medal winner – a decision that was heavily criticized by USA Gymnastics.

Currently, Bărbosu is the third-place winner on the women’s floor exercise, followed by Romanian gymnast Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who also scored 13.700, and Chiles in fifth place. (Bărbosu finished ahead of Maneca-Voinea due to a higher execution score.)

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Paris 2024: USA Gymnastics files appeal after Jordan Chiles is stripped of bronze medal

In the days following the decision to lower Chiles’ score again, reports appeared in several American news outlets claiming that the CAS chairman represented Romania in numerous arbitration cases in recent years.

In a statement released by CAS on Wednesday, the “scandalous statements“related to the alleged ties of Chairman Hamid G. Gharavi to the Romanian government.

“Given that none of the parties to this case challenged any of the panel members during the proceedings, it is reasonable to assume that all parties were satisfied with having their cases heard by this panel,” the statement said. “Any subsequent criticism is without merit or merit.”

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USA Gymnastics told CNN it was not aware of Gharavi’s connection to Romania.

“CAS has the Disclosure of conflicts of interest from a USA Gymnastics panelist, and we have not seen the revelations to date,” the organization claimed.

The decision to strip Chiles of her bronze came after a Romanian appeal claimed that coach Landi’s request for a review came four seconds into the sport’s one-minute time limit. The claim was disputed by USA Gymnastics, which said it had new video evidence of Landi making the appeal 47 seconds after Chiles’ score was posted.

On Monday, CAS rejected USA Gymnastics’ appeal. The gymnastics organization said it had been informed by CAS that the “rules do not permit reconsideration of an arbitral award even if compelling new evidence is presented.”

USA Gymnastics has vowed to fight the case through “every available avenue,” including the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

USA Gymnastics has said it did not become aware of the Romanian case for appeal until Aug. 9, which was “two days after the deadline to file objections regarding panel members, and less than 24 hours before the hearing.”

In a statement from the organization, CAS was accused of sending documents about the appeal to “incorrect email addresses.”

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) made similar allegations, claiming that CAS “sent critical communications to incorrect email addresses.”

USOPC said that for this reason it “did not have sufficient time to respond meaningfully or gather the necessary evidence.”

In a statement from Chiles shared Thursday afternoon, the gymnast said she is “overwhelmed by the love” she has received since losing her bronze medal.

“I am at a loss for words,” Chiles wrote. “This decision feels unfair and is a huge blow, not only to me, but to everyone who has supported my journey.”

Chiles said she has been the victim of “racially motivated attacks on social media.”

“I have put my heart and soul into this sport and I am so proud to represent my culture and my country,” she continued. “I will never deviate from my values ​​to compete with integrity, strive for excellence, uphold the values ​​of sportsmanship and the rules that dictate fairness.”

Chiles called losing her bronze medal “one of the most challenging moments of my career” and vowed to “do everything in my power to ensure justice is done.”

“I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in power will do the right thing,” she concluded.

The dispute over Chiles’ score is likely to lead to a legal battle that could last months or even years.

The International Gymnastics Federation has indicated that it will uphold the CAS decision to keep Bărbosu in third place.

At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won gold on the women’s floor exercise, while crowd favorite Simone Biles won silver.

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