Jordan Chiles has won what could be a landmark victory in her ongoing fight to reclaim the bronze medal she lost in a moment of huge controversy at the Paris Games in 2024.
The US gymnast’s request for the case to be considered again by the Court of Arbitration for Sport was approved by Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court on Thursday.
Chiles was stripped of her bronze in the floor exercise of the last Olympic Games following a dispute involving Romania’s Ana Barbosu.
After initially coming in fifth place, a United States appeal raised Chiles’ marks by one-tenth to move her up to third behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and teammate Simone Biles. Barbosu was in tears while the US team celebrated wildly.
Yet that changed when the Romanian athletic commission later filed an appeal of their own to the International Olympic Committee over the scores that dropped Barbosu from the medal stand.
Days after the event, the IOC concluded that the original United States challenge of the scores was filed four seconds outside of the one-minute deadline to contest scores and was therefore invalid, meaning Chiles was ordered to return the medal after it was reallocated to the Romanian athlete.
Jordan Chiles has won a landmark victory in her battle to reclaim her Olympic bronze medal
Chiles celebrates with teammate Simone Biles after winning bronze at the Paris Games
The federal court now says that it wants CAS to examine a recording that could show the original U.S. challenge of the judged score was within a one-minute deadline on the field of play.
‘In the highly exceptional circumstances of the case in question,’ the Swiss Federal Tribunal said in a statement, ‘it considers that there is a likelihood for the audio-visual recording of the final on Aug. 5, 2024 to lead to a modification of the contested award in favor of the applicant (Chiles).’
The CAS said in a statement Thursday it ‘can now ensure a thorough judicial review of the new evidence that has since been made available.’
The court based in Lausanne, across the Olympics’ home city from the supreme court, gave no timetable for the review. It likely will take at least one year to prepare and process before a verdict is ready.
Still, the federal court’s decision has given Chiles renewed hope of keeping her medal and putting the controversy behind her.
‘We are delighted that the Swiss Federal Supreme Court has righted a wrong and given Jordan the chance she deserves to reclaim her bronze medal,’ Maurice M. Suh, part of the legal team representing Chiles, said in a statement. ‘
As the Court recognized, there is ‘conclusive’ video evidence that Jordan was the rightful winner of the bronze medal.’
Suh added that Chiles will ‘fight vigorously’ and is grateful to have a ‘full and fair opportunity to defend her bronze medal.’
But after an appeal, Romania’s Ana Barbosu was awarded the medal Chiles thought she’d won
Chiles, now 24, has pressed forward with her life after dealing with significant online backlash – some of it racially tinged – in the immediate aftermath.
She returned to compete collegiately at UCLA while also leaning into her burgeoning celebrity.
She has participated on the reality competition ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ posing for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and is currently featured in a commercial for a female athleisure apparel line that also includes tennis icon Serena Williams and track star Sha´Carri Richardson.
