Jordan Chiles believes racism involved in her stripped Olympic bronze medal

United States Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles is still feeling the sting from losing out on an Olympic bronze medal over the summer. The circumstances that led up to her winning, and eventually, being stripped of the honor has prompted her to think deeper about the situation.

Jordan Chiles was recently interviewed by Forbes about the medal saga. She said, “To me, everything that has gone on is not about the medal. It’s about my skin color.”

Chiles continued, “It’s about the fact that there were things that have led up to this position of being an athlete, and I felt like everything has been stripped.”

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She said, “I felt like back in 2018, where I did lose the love of the sport, I lost it again. I just felt like there wasn’t a lot of people supporting me.”

Despite the adversity, Chiles is taking a forward-thinking approach. “I will approach the 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.”

At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Chiles initially was on the outside looking in for medal contention in the floor final. She was ranked in fifth place during the competition on August 5.

United States gymnastics coach Cecile Landi challenged the difficulty score with the judges. Chiles was awarded one tenth of a point more, which was enough to bump her up to third place, and earn the bronze medal.

This switch left Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu out of the medal picture, after it was thought she had won the bronze. Romania appealed the decision of the judges, and the International Olympic Committee decided to take the bronze away from Chiles, and give it to Barbosu.

According to Chiles, she received hurtful messages on social media throughout this review period.

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The initial appeal reviewed by the Committee for Athletics and Sport ruled that coach Landi’s challenge had come after the one-minute threshold allotted. While that seemed to be the end of the drama, it only spurned it forward.

The United States then came into footage that seemed to prove Landi made the challenge (and perhaps more than one challenge) under one minute, but the decision was not going to be reversed.

She posted on social media after the committee’s final decision, as captured by Us Magazine. “I have no words. This decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey. To add to the heartbreak, the unprompted racially driven attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful.”

Chiles also wrote that she will “never waver from my values of competing with integrity, striving for excellence and upholding the values of sportsmanship and the rules that dictate fairness.”

Jazmin Chiles, Jordan’s sister, wrote on social media, “Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well.”

The Romanian gymnast posted on Instagram, “The situation would not have existed if the persons in charge had respected the regulation. We athletes are not to be blamed, and the hate directed to us is painful. I wanted to end this edition of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in the spirit of Olympism, the true value of the world.”

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports thought that both Barbosu and Chiles should have received a bronze medal. “It (the IOC) should have done the right thing and awarded medals to both of them for a mess that has been made that isn’t any of the athletes’ fault.”

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