The Romanian women’s artistic gymnastics team experienced a series of lows during the floor exercise final of the 2024 Paris Olympics . During the Monday, August 5, competition, Team Romania issued a score inquiry regarding Sabrina Maneca-Voinea ’s performance. Each team can ask the judging panel to look into an athlete’s score, essentially rescoring the level of difficulty of a certain move.
Maneca-Voinea’s challenge was denied. After the score remained unchanged, Simone Bile s, Maneca-Voinea’s teammate Ana Barbosu , and Jordan Chiles performed their own routines. All three women placed higher than Maneca-Voinea.
Rebeca Andrade , Biles, 27, and Barbosu, 18, took home gold, silver and bronze , respectively. As Barbosu celebrated on the mat with her country’s flag, news broke that Team USA filed an inquiry into the difficulty of one of Chiles’ leaps. The judges ultimately accepted the consideration, bumping her up from fifth to third.
Barbosu was heartbroken that she narrowly missed a medal opportunity. “Thank you to everyone who encouraged me before, during, and after the competition,” Barbosu wrote via Instagram Stor y on Monday before reposting a statement from retired gymnast Sandra Izbasa-Bianca . “‘I hear more vividly than ever the words that the coaches repeated to us almost daily in the training room.
‘You, as Romanians, must be more than perfect in order not to leave room for interpretations!’ And here, it proves itself once again! Girls, hea.