Jordan Chiles answers role of racism in Olympic bronze medal controversy

American Olympic gymnast Jordan Chile She opened up about her thoughts on whether racism was a factor in the decision that led to her bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics being annulled.

During an interview on the podcast “Baby, This is Keke Palmer,” Chiles was asked if she “accepted” that she “experienced racism” after the incident. Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) The change overturned the result, which put Chiles in third place on the women’s floor exercise medal podium, and dropped her into fifth place.

“At first, I didn’t think about it that way until I started getting almost racist comments and saying this and saying that and basically saying people were telling me to kill myself, and it got to a really difficult point,” Chiles said in response.

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Chiles earned third place in women’s gymnastics’ first Olympic podium finish that included three Black medalists, along with her U.S. teammate. Simone Biles And Brazilian Rebecca Andrade. Chiles now says the “all-black” podium was something people “didn’t like.”

Simone Biles (silver), Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade (gold) and the United States’ Jordan Chiles (bronze) show athleticism during the culmination ceremony of the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Bercy Arena in Paris, on August 5, 2024. (Gabriel Boyes/AFP via Getty Images)

“I had to step away from social media for a while. Because it was, you know, it was very hard to even see that, as an athlete, let alone an athlete, I’m up there, yeah, it’s an ‘all black’ podium, which is very rare, and obviously something that people don’t like.”

“As a woman of color, I started to see that more. They didn’t want to see that, they didn’t want to see three beautiful black women standing on that stage. They didn’t want to see the fact that we were just controlling. And I took that to heart.”

Romania’s Ana Barbuso initially finished higher than Chiles once the American had finished her routine.

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At the end of floor practice at the Summer Games in August, Barboso earned third place and a place on the podium after initially completing judging. Barbuso was clearly thrilled when she saw the final results.

But then an American coach spoke to the referees and appealed for scoring on one of Chile’s moves. After the review, Chiles’ score went up, placing the American in third place, leaving Barboso outside of the podium. When Barboso looked up and saw the score changing on the board, she dropped the Romanian flag she was holding, covered her face with her hands and walked away, crying.

Ana Barbusu of Romania steps into the arena before the final round on day 10 of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Bercy Arena on August 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Chiles went on to accept the bronze medal and joined Biles and Andrade on the podium.

Then, on the final day of the Olympics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Chile’s appeal had been filed one minute after the deadline, and changed the result to put them back in fifth place. The next day, 11 August 2024, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided that Chile must return the medal.

Chili’s previously claimed she was facing “Racially motivated attacks” from a social media user in a statement posted on X.

In her first interview after the accident, she made similar comments.

“For me, everything that happened is not about the medal, it’s about the color of my skin,” Chiles said in a September 2024 interview during a panel discussion at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit.

The controversy brought international scrutiny to the referees who scored the event. CAS and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) issued a joint statement condemning International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) And the judging team for the result.

“If FIFA had put in place such a mechanism or arrangement, a great deal of heartache could have been avoided,” the ad hoc committee of the Court of Arbitration for Sport said in a statement. “The Committee expresses its hope that FIFA will draw out the consequences of this case, both in relation to these three exceptional athletes and also for other athletes and individuals supporting them, in the future, so that this never happens again.”

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Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles of Team USA pose with their Paris 2024 Olympic medals after the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise final on day 10 of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Bercy Arena on August 5, 2024 in Paris, France. Chile’s medal was later stripped (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Chiles and Team USA are currently involved in an appeal against the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for its decision.

Chiles’ lawyers argued that her coach had indeed submitted the request in a timely manner and that there was video evidence to prove this. They also pointed out that the official who made the decision to strip Chiles of a medal had ties to Romania.

Chiles also filed an appeal with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to overturn the CAS decision. She said she was not given a fair opportunity to defend herself and that CAS did not properly consider the video evidence.

Barboso collected her bronze medal shortly after the Olympics ended, and expressed her sympathy for her American rival, as well as her Romanian teammate, Sabrina Manica Voinha, whose finish was also affected by the back-and-forth scoring change.

“I can’t help but think about Sabrina and Jordan right now,” Barboso said in a statement. “It’s a difficult situation for us, with a lot of doubts and overwhelming emotions. I hope everyone understands that we did nothing wrong at the Olympics. That the Olympic spirit is more important than any misunderstanding between the authorities.”

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Barbuso currently competes in women’s gymnastics at Stanford University, while Chiles competes at UCLA. The two programs are scheduled to face off on March 7.

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