On Monday, USA Gymnastics announced that their appeal to have gymnast Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal for the floor exercise reinstated has been rejected.

The organization stated via social media that the Court of Arbitration for Sport has indicated that the rules “prevent an arbitral award from being revisited, even in the presence of definitive new evidence.”

“We are extremely disheartened by this notification and will explore all possible paths and appeal options, including approaching the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to secure the appropriate score, ranking, and medal recognition for Jordan,” USA Gymnastics expressed.

This announcement comes just over a week after the floor exercise competition, where an inquiry initiated by Chiles’ coaches started this ongoing situation.

Background of the Jordan Chiles Controversy

During the final routine of the floor exercise, Chiles received a score of 13.666, which included a deduction of 0.1 points for a flawed split leap known as a tour jete full. This score placed her in fifth position, trailing behind Romania’s Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, both of whom scored 13.700.

However, in a move that was somewhat risky, Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landi, filed a formal appeal against the deduction, and the judges agreed to reassess. As a result, Chiles’ score was raised to 13.766, elevating her to third place, surpassing the two Romanian gymnasts, one of whom had already begun celebrating on the podium.

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation felt this late decision was unjust and presented the case to CAS, asserting that Landi had submitted her appeal four seconds beyond the allowed one-minute window. The Romanian team did not clarify how they determined Landi’s timing and have not responded to requests for additional comments. They also lodged a separate appeal for Maneca-Voinea, arguing she should not have faced penalties for stepping out of bounds.

It wasn’t until Saturday that CAS made its ruling, which initiated a ripple effect through various Olympic organizations, ultimately leading to the International Olympic Committee announcing that Barbosu would be awarded a bronze medal while Chiles would lose hers.

Issues Overshadowing Gymnasts’ Achievements

Traditionally, the reallocation of Olympic medals has been limited to cases involving doping incidents.

On Sunday, USA Gymnastics announced it had discovered new video evidence that effectively contradicted the Romanian Gymnastics Federation’s timeline. The U.S. organization indicated they submitted this video to CAS as part of their appeal against the ruling made by the Swiss court.

Throughout this entire ordeal, the athletes have been caught in the middle, particularly Chiles and Barbosu.

Barbosu, 18, was deeply affected when the standings shifted immediately after the competition, leading her to drop her Romanian flag in shock. Chiles had been ecstatic about winning what would have been her first individual medal, although she likely shared similar frustrations as Barbosu when the IOC announced on Sunday that it would seek the return of Chiles’ bronze medal.

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation had actually requested that CAS rule for Barbosu, Chiles, and Maneca-Voinea to all receive bronze medals. Instead, the decision was left to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), which declared that all medal decisions are ultimately made by the IOC. The IOC later reiterated that medal distribution is based on finishing order and referred inquiries to the FIG.