USA's Jordan Chiles May Have to Return Olympic Floor Exercise Bronze After CAS Ruling

United States gymnast Jordan Chiles may have to surrender the bronze medal she won in the floor exercise at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris following a decision handed down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding an inquiry into her score.

According to Tom Schad of USA Today, CAS ruled Saturday that Chiles was improperly granted an inquiry, as it was not submitted before the passage of a one-minute deadline.

Chiles' floor routine was initially scored a 13.666, which placed her fifth, but her coaches submitted an inquiry, and it was determined that the judges made an error on a deduction.

One-tenth of a point was added to Chiles' score, and a 13.766 bumped her up into third place, earning her the bronze medal.

In the wake of the CAS' decision, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee released a joint statement Saturday:

The organizations said they were "devastated" by the ruling and condemned "consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks" against Chiles on social media during the appeals process.

Before the inquiry moved Chiles up to third place, that spot was occupied by Romania's Ana Bărbosu, who had a score of 13.700, placing her behind gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the United States.

Chiles was the final gymnast to compete, so once her score was posted, the medalists celebrated, including Bărbosu.

Shortly thereafter, Chiles' new score was posted and she was moved into third. Chiles embraced Biles and her coaches in a moment of jubilation, while Bărbosu was left in a state of shock.

Per Schad, Romania filed a pair of appeals with the CAS immediately after the floor exercise controversy occurred.

The first appeal regarding the legality of Chiles' appeal was accepted, but the second appeal, which related to a deduction against Romanian gymnast Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, was denied.

Maneca-Voinea finished fourth in the floor exercise with a score of 13.700, and she could have been bumped ahead of Bărbosu had the CAS reversed a one-tenth deduction that was levied against her.

Schad noted that the CAS released a statement in which it asserted that Saturday's ruling "applied to Chiles' score but not the final ranking."

The CAS added: "The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique shall determine the ranking of the final of the women's floor exercise and assign the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision."

That suggests Chiles' fate is now in the hands of the FIG, which is the international governing body for gymnastics.

Even if Chiles is ultimately stripped of her bronze medal, she will still leave Paris as a gold medalist, which she won as part of the team event at the 2024 Summer Games.

Chiles announced this week that she will return to college after the Olympics and compete in gymnastics at UCLA for two more seasons.