I can only assume International Olympic Committee officials have never read the organization’s mission statement. Otherwise, they would not be preparing to strip U.S.
gymnast Jordan Chiles of the bronze medal she won in the floor exercise at the Paris Games. Calling the current situation disturbing is inadequate. Shameful is more appropriate.
It’s a case of adults failing to act like adults and hiding behind the letter of a rule rather than doing the right thing and acknowledging the spirit behind the rule, which is to produce a fair and just outcome. Some background: The floor exercise was the final event of the gymnastics competition, and Chiles was the final participant. She initially received a score of 13.
666, which left her in fifth place, but one of her coaches believed the judges failed to include the correct degree of difficulty for Chiles’ split leap — she received a 5.800 instead of the proper 5.900 — and filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Advertisement CAS acknowledged the error and gave Chiles the additional tenth of a point, elevating her score to 13.766 and lifting her into third place, ahead of Romania’s Ana Bărbosu, who received a score of 13.700.
But instead of the controversy dying there, it gained new life when the Romanian Federation filed its own appeal, arguing the initial inquiry from Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landi, came after the window for review had closed. CAS supported the claim, ruling Landi missed the deadline .