Court reverses inquiry, moves to strip Jordan Chiles of floor bronze

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Saturday that American gymnast Jordan Chiles should turn back the bronze medal she won in the women's floor competition earlier this week at the Paris Olympics.

Chiles' score on the floor was 13.666, but her coaches filed an inquiry over the tally. Upon review, her total was raised to 13.766, good enough to edge out Ana Barbosu of Romania, who scored 13.700.

But Barbosu appealed to CAS, contending the Chiles inquiry was made after the one-minute deadline allowed to do so and that the initial scores should hold. The CAS sided with Barbosu and her team.

"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," CAS said.

"The initial score of 13.666 given to Ms. Jordan Chiles in the final of the women's floor exercise shall be reinstated."

CAS recommended to FIG, the international gymnastics federation, that Barbosu should be awarded the bronze medal.

USA Gymnastics, in a statement posted to social media on Saturday, was disheartened by the ruling.

"We are devastated by Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women's floor exercise," the organization said. "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."

With the upgraded score, Chiles jumped over both Barbosu and another Romanian, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea. Under the CAS ruling, Chiles would fall to fifth place on the floor event.

Chiles, a 23-year-old from Vancouver, Wash., earned a gold medal in the team competition.

-Field Level Media