Stripped of her bronze medal, American gymnast Jordan Chiles denounces “an injustice” and “unworthy racist attacks”

Jordan Chiles had to return his medal at the Paris Olympics for an appeal filed four seconds late.

Jordan Chiles is not digesting it. The American gymnast published a long post on X (ex-Twitter) on Thursday, August 15, describing as “unfair” the withdrawal of her bronze medal at the Paris Games in the floor event in favor of the Romanian Ana Barbosu following an imbroglio concerning her score.

Back to last August 5th. Ana Barbosu, 18 years old, had initially been announced third before being demoted to fourth position after an appeal which allowed Jordan Chiles to obtain an increase in his score from the judges. Except that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which was hearing the case, considered that the American appeal had been filed four seconds beyond the regulation minute. Under these conditions, the IOC re-awarded the bronze to the Romanian.

“I was devastated to learn that the medal was being taken away from me while I was celebrating my performance”Jordan Chiles, 23, said on the social network X. “This unfair decision is a hard blow, not only for me, but for all those who have supported me in my journey”insisted the athlete, also deploring the “gratuitous, unworthy and very painful racial attacks”which she suffered online.

“I am facing one of the most difficult moments of my career. But believe me, I have seen others. I will approach this one like the previous ones and I will do everything necessary to ensure that justice is done. This is not the end of the story, those responsible will do what is necessary.”assured the gymnast.