USA gymnast Jordan Chiles is seemingly set to be stripped of her bronze medal from the women's floor exercise at the Paris 2024 Olympics following a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 23-year-old was initially given a score of 13.666 for her routine, with an execution total of 7.866 and a difficulty value of 5.8, which saw her finish in fifth place.
However, USA coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi submitted a late enquiry into Chiles's score, which saw her difficulty value bumped up by 0.1 to 5.9, thus boosting her overall score to 13.766.
That total was enough to catapult Chiles into third place, ahead of Romanian duo Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea, both of whom put 13.700 on the board; the former finished above her compatriot on account of a higher execution score.
As Chiles broke down in elation, Barbosu - who was bumped down from the bronze medal position to fourth place - was left crestfallen in the arena, although Romania then argued that the American's score should not have been upgraded.
Federations only have one minute to submit an inquiry over a gymnast's score once the result has been confirmed, and Barbosu complained that Canqueteau-Landi's appeal came past the 60-second deadline.
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USA Gymnastics "devastated" by Chiles medal ruling
Meanwhile, Voinea appealed over a 0.1 deduction for going outside the floor area, which condemned her to finish outside of the medals, although replays showed that the 17-year-old may not have gone out of bounds.
The duo argued that both they and Chiles should be awarded bronze medals, and in their ruling released on Saturday, the CAS confirmed that the American's inquiry arrived past the one-minute deadline.
As a result, Chiles's original score of 13.666 will be reinstated, leaving her at risk of losing her bronze medal, although the CAS - who also dismissed Voinea's complaint - has said that the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) will make the final decision on the podium placements.
USA Gymnastics released a statement in the wake of the decision, slamming "extremely hurtful" attacks aimed at Chiles, who reacted herself with a series of broken heart emojis on an Instagram story.
"We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women's floor exercise. The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles' floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring," the governing body said.
"Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subject to such treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who engage, support or instigate them. We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her."
Brazil's Rebeca Andrade took the gold medal in the women's floor with an overall score of 14.166, marginally beating Simone Biles (14.133) to the Olympic title.
Ben Knapton
