USA Gymnastics has submitted additional evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in defense of Jordan Chiles, refuting their ruling calling for her to return her bronze medal. The “time-stamped, video evidence” shows head coach Cecile Landi “first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted.”
Landi then issued a second statement at the inquiry table 55 seconds after Chiles’ score was originally posted, USA Gymnastics added. The timing of the inquiry is crucial, as Chiles and her team were only allowed one minute to file an inquiry at the end of her routine.
The statement reads in full:
“USA Gymnastics on Sunday formally submitted a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, conclusively establishing that Head Coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of hte score, within the 1-minute deadline required by FIG rule.
“In the letter, USA Gymnastics requests that the CAS ruling be revised and Chiles’ bronze-medal score of 13.766 reinstated.
“The basis for the CAS ruling on Friday striking down the inquiry was that ‘The inquiry submitted on behalf of Ms. Jordan Chiles in the Final of the women’s floor exercise was raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline provided by article 8.5 of the 2024 FIG Technical Regulations and is determined to be without effect.’
“The time-stamped, video evidence submitted by USA Gymnastics Sunday evening shows Landi first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the original score is posted.
“The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it,” the statement concluded.
On Saturday, Chiles’ sister Jazmin wrote in an Instagram story that she was being stripped of her bronze medal. “Please keep Jordan (and my family) in your prayers,” Jazmin requested. “Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well.”
“They have officially, five days later, stripped her of one of her medals,” Jazmin added. “Not because she didn’t win, not because she was drugged, not because she stepped out of bounds. Not because she wasn’t good enough. But because the judges failed to give her difficulty and forced an inquiry to be made.”
Chiles was the final athlete to compete in Monday night’s event and initially received a score of 13.666, which put her behind Romania’s Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who each earned scores of 13.700. Following Landi’s inquiry, judges gave Chiles an adjusted score of 13.766.
The sports court body had previously ruled that Landi’s inquiry pointing out that Chiles should have received an extra 0.1 point for difficulty was filed four seconds past the one-minute allowed for protests. “Her bronze was stripped over four seconds of time that would never needed to happen if the judges did their job,” Jazmin added.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport advised that Romania’s Barbosu should be awarded third, Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth place, but ultimately left the decision up to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
Romania’s Olympic Committee had requested that three bronze medals be awarded to Chiles, Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea.
“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise,” USA Gymnastics previously said in a statement released Saturday. “The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring.”
