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Jordan Chiles Won Bronze in Floor Exercise after an Appeal: How the Process Works
Jordan Chiles coach didn't think judges had properly credited her with a maneuver during her floor exercise routine, lowering her score. She was right.
(UPDATE, August 11, 2024: After a court ruling that the U.S. appeal of Jordan Chiles' score came too late, the International Olympic Committee withdrew her bronze medal and awarded it to Romania's Ana Bǎrbosu.)
Spectators may have been surprised at the 2024 Paris Olympics when U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles, who initially placed fifth in the individual floor exercise, ended up beating out Team Romania’s Ana Bǎrbosu for the bronze medal.
Romanian gymnasts Sabrina Maneca-Voinea and Bǎrbosu both scored 13.700 at the Monday, August 5, 2024, event, though it was Bǎrbosu who scored higher in execution, thus ostensibly winning the Olympic bronze medal by a hair. During the live event — which saw Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade win gold and Simone Biles win silver — 22-year-old Chiles scored a 13.666, securing a fifth-place finish and leaving her with no individual medal from the 2024 Games, according to NBC News.
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However, in a dramatic turn of events, her coach appealed the judges’ score unbeknownst to Chiles, and an unmarked credit was factored into a new final score of 13.766, securing bronze for Chiles.
“I have no words, but I’m so proud of myself,” Chiles later told reporters in a hoarse voice, according to NBC News. “So, losing my voice means everything because it takes a while for me to do that.”
Here’s what happened:
Why did Team USA appeal Jordan Chiles' floor exercise score?
Chiles’ (and Simone Biles’) coach, Cecile Canqueteau-Landi, appealed the judges’ decision, questioning whether the panel properly credited Chiles with a split leap (a tour jete full with a 1.5 turn, also known as the Gogean, after Romani gymnast Gina Gogean), according to Yahoo Sports.
Two factors enter into a gymnast's score: execution and difficulty. Execution scores aren't subject to appeal, but difficulty ratings are (the higher the difficulty rating of a routine, the higher the overall score will be). If the judges hadn't credited Chiles with the split leap, then her difficulty rating would be dragged down. Thus, Landi submitted a “verbal inquiry” regarding that difficulty rating, something that had to be done within one minute of Chiles’ score being released. Such an inquiry must be “confirmed” electronically within a four-minute window, according to Yahoo Sports.
The timing was especially crucial since Chiles was the last gymnast in the rotation, Landi’s husband and co-coach, Laurent Landi, told The Washington Post.
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“She was out of the podium already, so even if they drop the score, [it’s] nothing worse,” said Laurent. “I was [at] the same angle as the judge. And I felt it was way better than all the other meets that she’s done, so what the heck? We might as well try.”
Should the judges uphold their initial score, Landi would have to fork over 300 Swiss Francs (about $351 USD) to the Federation of International Gymnastics.
Per The Washington Post, it was the U.S.’s first appeal in the competition, though the price goes up for any subsequent appeal – a way of curbing coaches and athletes from appealing every decision. In the past, cash transactions — often for the public to see — were the norm, though transactions are now done electronically.
Cecile Landi was prepared to pay, according to Yahoo Sports.
“I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen,” she said.
After the judges took a second look, they determined they had, in fact, missed the split leap and Chiles' score rose by a tenth of a point, enough for third place.
What about Ana Bǎrbosu?
Chiles’ stunning score change had participants and crowds erupting in tears and cheers, but it was a devastating loss for Bǎrbosu, who’d been bumped into fourth place. She’d already begun waving the Romanian flag in celebration but then froze when watching the scoreboard, eventually dropping the flag and bursting into tears once making the stark realization.
On Monday, the 18-year-old World Cup winner posted a couple of Instagram Stories addressing the blow.
First, she posted a video of herself at Monday’s event, captioning in English, “Thank you to everyone who encouraged me before, during, and after the competition.”
In a follow-up Story, Bǎrbosu shared Olympic photos of herself with a message written in Romanian.
“The words the coaches instilled in me nearly daily in the training room resonate with me more vividly than ever: ‘You, as Romanians, are not too perfect to be above interpretation,’ and here, it has happened once again,” the message loosely translates. “Girls, heads high and backs straight. Continue to believe in your dreams. Go Romania!”
Has this ever happened before?
Jordan Chiles’ score change is a reminder of when six-time U.S. medalist Aly Raisman had the same thing happen to her at the 2012 London Games. In Raisman’s case, she was tied for third in the all-around balance beam competition, though bumped to fourth until coaches intervened, according to NBC News.
“I remember my coach was rushing to put in the inquiry and just making sure that he was writing everything down correctly,” Raisman recollected in the Aug. 5, 2024, interview. “So, it’s definitely a race against the clock, and it’s a lot of pressure. It was just so emotional and so special when it went my way.”
Raisman added she was “so happy” that Chiles’ coaches did the same, adding how much she loved not just Chiles’ emotional reaction but Biles’ reaction, as well.
“It was just so cool to see them celebrating together,” Raisman said of Chiles and Biles, the latter being Raisman's former teammate in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. “It was really beautiful to see how happy they both were.”
That dramatic finale sealed Team USA Gymnastics' participation in the 2024 Games. The women's team — consisting of Chiles, Biles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera — can now celebrate after taking home an impressive 10 Olympic medals for the nation, including team gold and Biles’ all-around individual gold.
America sure is proud.
Originally published Aug 6, 2024.
