Simone Biles is voicing her support for teammate Jordan Chiles amid the dispute over the Team USA star’s bronze medal in the floor exercise.
Romania’s Ana Barbosu has replaced Chiles as the Olympic bronze medalist in gymnastics floor exercise after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided an appeal from Chiles’ coach that vaulted her onto the podium.
CAS ruled Saturday that the on-floor appeal by U.S. coach Cecile Landi to have .1 added to Chiles’ score that boosted Chiles from fifth to third came outside the 1-minute window allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). The ad hoc committee wrote that Landi’s appeal came 1 minute, 4 seconds after the score was posted.
CAS wrote that the initial finishing order should be restored, with Barbosu third, teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth. The organization added the FIG should determine the final ranking ‘in accordance with the above decision,’ but left it to FIG to decide who would get the medal behind gold winner Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the U.S.
FIG spokesperson Meike Behrensen said in an email to The Associated Press that a statement from the organization would be made ‘in due course’ but did not offer a timeline.
The Romanian Olympic Committee had asked for three bronze medals to be awarded. Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu reacted to the ruling by saying ‘justice has been served’ and that ‘in the end, the truth prevailed.’
The ruling adds another layer to what has been a difficult few days for all three athletes. Romanian gymnastics legend and 1976 Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci feared for Barbosu’s mental health because of the wrenching sequence in which she went from bronze medalist to fourth-place finisher.
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