Jordan Chiles’ sister Jazmin says racism is behind the decision to strip the American gymnast of her bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.
In a shock ruling on Saturday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the jury in the floor final had wrongly allowed an investigation that gave Chiles a higher score, moving her from fifth to third place.
In a furious response to the news, Jazmin wrote on her Instagram Story: ‘Please keep Jordan (and my family) in your prayers. Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well.
‘They officially, 5 days later, took away one of her medals. Not because she didn’t win, not because she was drugged, not because she stepped out of line. Not because she wasn’t good enough.
‘But because the judges didn’t give her any problems and forced an investigation.
Jordan Chiles’ sister Jazmin says racism is behind decision to strip US gymnast of bronze
Jazmin Chiles immediately responded on social media after the statement about her sister came out
‘FOUR SECONDS. Her bronze was taken away from her time by 4 seconds, which would never have been necessary if the judges had done their job.
I love you, little sister. And I’ll have you back no matter what.’
In a follow-up post she added: ‘FYI, in the HISTORY of the Olympics, NO ONE has ever had their medal taken away for this.
“Also – there are only TWO ways you can lose a medal. Cheating or doping. She did neither.”
Chiles herself posted three broken heart emojis on her Instagram Story, writing, “I’m taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you.”
CAS wrote in its decision that the original order of finish should be restored, with Barbosu third, teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth.
The organization added that the FIG would have to determine the final ranking “in accordance with the above decision,” but left it up to the FIG to decide who would get the medal, behind gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the US.
Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea were left out of the medals in Monday floor final after finishing with a score of 13.700 points. Barbosu thought she had won bronze from Maneca-Voinea via a tiebreaker – a higher execution score – and started celebrating with a Romanian flag.
Chiles was the last athlete to compete and was initially given a score of 13.666, placing her in fifth place, just behind Maneca-Voinea. Landi requested an investigation into her score and then said there was nothing to lose.
After a review, the judges increased Chiles’ total by 0.1. That was enough to overtake Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea and take the final spot on the podium.
USA Gymnastics said in a statement that it was “stunned” by the ruling.
“The investigation into the difficulty of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercises was submitted in good faith and, in our opinion, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate judging,” the organization wrote.
