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American gymnast Jordan Chiles takes bid to have Olympic bronze restored to the Swiss Supreme Court

Posted 9/16/24

American gymnast Jordan Chiles is taking the fight to have her Olympic bronze medal on floor exercise to the highest court in Switzerland. Chiles filed an appeal with the Swiss Supreme Court asking …

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American gymnast Jordan Chiles takes bid to have Olympic bronze restored to the Swiss Supreme Court

Posted

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — American gymnast Jordan Chiles is asking Switzerland's Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that stripped Chiles of a bronze medal in floor exercise at the 2024 Olympics.

Chiles, with the support of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, filed the appeal on Monday, a little over a month after CAS voided an on-floor appeal by Chiles’ coach Cecile Landi during the event finals on Aug. 5 that vaulted Chiles from fifth to third.

CAS, following a hearing requested by Romanian officials, ruled Landi's appeal came 4 seconds beyond the 1-minute time limit for scoring inquiries and recommended the initial finishing order be restored. The International Gymnastics Federation complied and the International Olympic Committee ended up awarding bronze to Romanian Ana Barbosu on Aug. 16.

Chiles' appeal maintains that the CAS hearing violated her “right to be heard” by refusing to allow video evidence that Chiles and USA Gymnastics believe showed Landi appealed within the 1-minute time allotment. Chiles' appeal also argues that Hamid G. Gharavi, president of the CAS panel, has a conflict of interest due to past legal ties to Romania.

USA Gymnastics wrote in a statement Monday night that it made a “collective, strategic decision to have Jordan lead the initial filing. USAG is closely coordinating with Jordan and her legal team and will make supportive filings with the court in the continued pursuit of justice for Jordan.”

The appeal is the next step in what could be a months- or years-long legal battle over the gymnastics scores.

Chiles was last among the eight women to compete during the floor exercise finals initially given a score of 13.666 that placed her fifth, right behind Barbosu and fellow Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea. Landi called for an inquiry on Chiles’ score.

“At this point, we had nothing to lose, so I was like ‘We’re just going to try,’” Landi said after the awards ceremony. “I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen, but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like ‘What?’”

Judges awarded the appeal, leapfrogging Chiles past Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea for the last spot on the podium.

Romanian officials appealed to CAS on several fronts while also asking a bronze medal be awarded to Chiles, Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea. The FIG and the IOC ultimately gave the bronze to Barbosu, who beat her teammate on a tiebreaker because she produced a higher execution score during her routine.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games