The matter is complicated, but the message should be simple.
When the corrupt Olympic gods show up at Jordan Chiles’ doorstep demanding her bronze floor exercise medal, the UCLA gymnast should send them off with three words.
Go to hell.
It’s her medal, she won it fairly, she won it definitively, it doesn’t belong in this controversy, it doesn’t belong in Romania, it belongs in only one place, now and forever.
Draped around her neck.
The International Olympic Committee wants to strip her of the medal and give it to Ana Barbosu, but if the Romanian gymnast had any sense of fair play, she shouldn’t accept it.
This is five-ringed robbery, an Olympic-sized heist, and UCLA’s Chiles should not stand still by while her achievement is blatantly mugged.
The IOC wants her medal? They can take a hike.
If the IOC wants to give out two bronze medals, one for each of the competitors in the kerfuffle, fine. By doing this they would take responsibility for their mistake and not penalize either of the gymnasts, and that’s cool.
But they better not come for Chiles, and if they do, here’s hoping she sends them tumbling Simone Biles style.
If this were baseball or football or basketball, this wouldn’t even be an issue. If this were a competition run by somebody other than a bribe-taking, influence-peddling, over-the-top arrogant organization like the IOC, this also wouldn’t be an issue.
You remember how it happened, right?
As the last competitor in the recent floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chiles bounced up on her first landing, landed short on her last, and initially finished in fifth.
However, U.S. head coach Cecile Landi quickly noticed that the judges had given her a lower-than-required difficulty score. That score gives a gymnast credit for all of their attempted skills. The more difficult the routine, the higher the score.
Chiles had basically hit a three-pointer but was only given credit for two.
The moment the judges were informed of their mistake, they changed her score and Chiles soared into third place, leaving her in stunned tears and setting up one of the Games’ coolest moments.
During the medal ceremony, Chiles got the idea that she and silver medalist Biles should bow to the greatness of Brazilian gold medal winner Rebeca Andrade, creating an image that will live forever as an example of Olympic sportsmanship.
If only Chiles’ bronze medal had lasted that long.
Chiles’ tears weren’t even dry before the Romanian Gymnastics Federation protested that the USA Gymnastics appeal was filed four seconds after the closing of the one-minute window allowed for such appeals.
Mind you, the Romanian folks weren’t saying that Chiles didn’t do the work or earn the score. They were just saying that USAG was too late in complaining.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the Romanian protest, and continued to uphold it even though the USAG produced a time-stamped video allegedly proving they protested within the proper time frame.
The IOC then honored the CAS ruling by stripping Chiles of the medal and demanding its return, and do you see how dumb this all is?
In this sports world rife with close calls, the bottom line is always, in the end, did they get it right? Replays can last an hour and we don’t care. Arguments can go on forever and it doesn’t matter.
The only thing that counts is, did they get it right? And if they got it right, it doesn’t matter how many machinations were required to reach that conclusion.
In the case of Jordan Chiles, they got her final score right. The Romanians didn’t disagree. Nobody disagreed. She earned the points. She earned the medal. Forget that four-second overage. Forget the CAS ruling, particularly because it has since been revealed that the head of the panel is a lawyer who has represented Romanian interests for years.
Chiles was given the right score, and thus has been terribly wronged.
“I have no words,” Chiles said Thursday in a statement on Instagram. “The decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey. … I will approach this challenge as I have others — and will make every effort to ensure that justice is done. I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in control will do the right thing.”
But the IOC rarely cares about the right thing. It’s more interested in protecting its fiefdom, a situation so whack, they actually have the nerve to ask Olympic spectators to stand when they raise the Olympic flag and play the Olympic anthem, as if these rich businesspeople have created their own country worthy of blind support.
Already, they are messing with Los Angeles in advance of the 2028 Olympics. On the third floor of City Hall, officials are replacing a model ship from South Korea and a shrine from Japan to make room for the Olympic flags, much to the dismay of local Korean and Japanese communities.
The IOC has also been trying to mess with those wishing to keep the Games clean of drug users. They looked the other way as 11 Chinese swimmers were allowed to compete in Paris despite allegedly earlier failing a drug test, and they have threatened future Olympic cities with terminated contracts if they don’t recognize the IOC’s shaky drug enforcement arm as the “supreme authority.”
In the case of Chiles, the IOC doesn’t care about fairness, it cares about image, and so it would never dispute the findings of its own arbitration board no matter how fraudulent.
USAG does have one bullet left, an appeal to something called the Swiss Federal Tribunal, but here’s guessing the IOC will have their hooks in that group, too.
In the meantime, Chiles has been bullied by more than just the IOC; she has been relentlessly ripped on social media, including with racist screeds.
“To add to the heartbreak, the unprompted racially driven attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful,” said Chiles. “I’ve poured my heart and soul into this sport and I am so proud to represent my culture and my country.”
The atmosphere around her has grown so toxic, the USAG felt compelled to issue a statement of support, noting that Chiles has been the target of “consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. … No athlete should be subject to such treatment. … We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her.”
Keep standing. Keep supporting. Keep the medal.
