By Becca Wood, Samantha Kubota and Ariana Brockington
Jordan Chiles is not giving up on getting her bronze medal back.

The Team USA gymnast’s legal team announced on Sept. 16 that she appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland to overturn the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ruling that her challenge in the women’s floor exercise final in Paris was submitted four seconds too late.

Chiles originally received a 13.666 in the floor finals Aug. 5, but Team USA submitted an inquiry, arguing that the judges neglected to credit the gymnast for a skill. She was then granted a score of 13.766, propelling her to the podium over two Romanian gymnasts, Bărbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.

Days later, the CAS said the inquiry was submitted too late and that her original score would be reinstated.

The CAS’ decision stripped Chiles of the bronze medal. Her recept appeal claims that the CAS’ decision violated her “right to be heard,” among other procedural issues. Her appeal also claims a conflict of interest regarding Hamid Gharavi, the president of the CAS arbitration panel, and is previous work as a counsel for Romania, NBC News reports.

Chiles previously commented about the controversial decision in a statement shared on Instagram Aug. 15.

“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,” she said in part.

Here’s everything to know about the controversy.

Why did Jordan Chiles have to return her bronze medal?
After Chiles was awarded the bronze medal in Paris, Romanian officials filed a complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), arguing Team USA’s inquiry into Chiles’ score was submitted past the one-minute deadline.

The court issued a decision Aug. 10, recommending Chiles’ original floor routine score be reinstated. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Aug. 11 that the organization “will reallocate” the bronze medal from Chiles to Bărbosu.

USA Gymnastics (USAG) filed an appeal on her behalf, writing that Team USA had submitted the initial inquiry within 47 seconds of Chiles’ score being posted, which would put the request within the one-minute deadline. USAG also included new video evidence but the CAS declined their appeal, citing rules that “do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented.”

In a statement posted to X on Aug. 12, USA Gymnastics said it is continuing to pursue “every possible avenue” of an appeal on behalf of Chiles to get her bronze medal reinstated, despite the CAS declining its initial efforts.

“We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan (Chiles),” USA Gymnastics said.

CAS said in a statement to The Athletic that both Team USA and the Romanian federation had “ample opportunities to present their arguments and objections” about the U.S. challenge being made four seconds late.

However, CAS did the leave the door open for the case to be revisited.

“If new evidence (i.e. objectively unknown at the time of the CAS hearing) appears after the issuance of the CAS decision, it would be possible to ask the Swiss Federal Tribunal to order that the case be reopened,” CAS said in its statement. “The CAS would also reopen the case spontaneously if all parties agree.”

Who won the bronze medal?
The CAS ultimately ruled that Team USA’s scoring inquiry should be voided, which would restore the original finishing order with Bărbosu at third, Maneca-Voinea at fourth and Chiles at fifth.

In the CAS’ decision, the court ruled that Chiles’ original score of 13.666 should be reinstated.

Romania’s appeal also asked that Maneca-Voinea’s score be adjusted to add 0.1 after she was given a deduction to her score “without basis.” The court, however, dismissed the request.

Bărbosu received a bronze medal on Aug. 16.

Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Bărbosu said that the controversy was “saddening” and that she was sending U.S. gymnasts “good thoughts.”

“I am thinking of them even if today I got the medal,” she said.

Bărbosu added that “we expected the referees and staff at the Olympics to do their job properly.”

How did Jordan Chiles respond to the controversy?

Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles issued her first statement since being stripped of her bronze medal on Aug. 15.

In a statement shared to Instagram, Chiles said she was “overwhelmed by the love I have received” and thanked everyone for their support amid the ongoing saga.

Chiles wrote that she “had confidence in the appeal brought by USAG” and that she had been shocked at the court’s decision. She also condemned the CAS decision and online attacks she had been subjected to since the ruling.

“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,” she said, adding that “unprompted racially driven attacks on social media” about her have been “extremely hurtful.”

“I’ve poured my heart and soul into this sport and I am so proud to represent my culture and my country,” she continued. “I will never waver from my values of competing with integrity, striving for excellence, upholding the values of sportsmanship and the rules that dictate fairness.”

Chiles went on to say that she is “now confronted with one of the most challenging moments of my career.”

“I will approach this challenge as I have others — and will make every effort to ensure that justice is done,” she concluded. “I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in control will do the right thing.”

On Aug. 10, Chiles initially shared three broken-heart emoji on her Instagram story, writing in a subsequent message that she would be “taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health.”

On Sept. 11 at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit, she publicly addressed the situation, People reported.

“The biggest thing that was taken from me was that it was the recognition of who I was. Not just my sport, but the person I am,” Chiles said when asked about being stripped of her medal.

She continued, “To me, everything that has gone on is not about the medal. It’s about my skin color.”

Chiles, Biles and Andrade made history Aug. 5 when they were presented with their medals at the 2024 Paris Games, as it marked the first all-Black podium in men’s or women’s gymnastics at the Olympics, NBC Olympics confirmed to TODAY.com at the time.

The gymnast said that in the aftermath of that historic moment, it feels “like everything has been stripped” from her. She explained that the situation reminded her of a low point she experienced six years ago.

“I felt like when I was back in 2018 where I did lose the love of the sport, I lost it again. I felt like I was really left in the dark,” she said at the Forbes event.

She revealed that in 2018, she worked with a coach who “emotionally and verbally abused” her.

“I didn’t have the ability to use my voice or be heard,” she recalled. “And that is one thing that I feel like now in this instance of being in this situation, that I wasn’t able to be heard.”

Despite the outcome, she hasn’t stopped believing in herself.

Chiles said at the summit, “I made history and I’ll always continue to make history and something that I rightfully did. I followed the rules, my coach followed the rules.”

She added, “So having being left in the dark is something that I feel like they just took that all away and was trying to just put the name gymnastics in front of it.”

At the end of her interview at the summit, she expressed her gratitude for everyone who supported her.

“Everything did go so quickly. But I do appreciate every single person that has been able to come out and say what they needed to say, whether it was through social media, whether it was through news outlets, whether it was through just people texting me,” she said. “I do appreciate it so much and I don’t think I could be where I am right now sitting up here talking to everybody if it wasn’t for everyone being right by my side and really recognizing what the right thing is.”

What did the US Olympic committee say about the ruling?

Hours after the IOC publicly asked that Chiles return the bronze medal on Aug. 11, the USOPC said in a statement that they plan to appeal the decision.

“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed,” the statement began.

“The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision,” the statement continued. “As a result, we were not properly represented or afforded the opportunity to present our case comprehensively.

“Given these circumstances, we are committed to pursuing an appeal to help Jordan Chiles receive the recognition she deserves. We remain dedicated to supporting her as an Olympic champion and will continue to work diligently to resolve this matter swiftly and fairly.”

On Aug. 14, USOPC shared a statement that they “strongly contest” the CAS decision due to “significant procedural errors.” The group claimed that crucial information was sent to the wrong email addresses for USOPC and USA Gymnastics, which deprived them from having enough time to gather evidence and properly object the CAS ruling.

What did Jordan Chiles’ teammates and other athletes say about the ruling?

In the wake of the ruling, members of the U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team shared their support for their teammate on social media.

Biles shared a photo on her Instagram story hugging a crying Chiles, adding several heart emojis over the picture. She penned a touching message to her teammate on the post, writing in part, “sending you so much love Jordan.”

“keep your chin up olympic champ!” she added. “we love you!”

Sunisa Lee shared her own message of support for Chiles on her Instagram story, resharing the statement from USA Gymnastics.

“All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges??” she wrote alongside the statement. “Completely unacceptable. this is awful and i’m gutted for Jordan. i got your back forever Jo. u have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an olympic champion.”

Jade Carey had a similar sentiment to Lee, resharing the same statement alongside the message, “don’t punish the athlete for someone else’s mistake.”

“With you all the way jo,” Carey added. “You are forever an olympic champion that has so much to be proud of.”

Hezly Rivera also posted the USA Gymnastics statement, writing on her Instagram story, “love you @jordanchiles and will always support you!!!”

Raisman, a six-time Olympic medalist who competed with USA’s women’s gymnastics in Rio in 2016 and London in 2012, took to X on Aug. 10 to comment about the event that “no athlete should ever go through.”

“This is unfair & cruel. Athlete fairness & athlete mental health matters,” Raisman penned. “Athletes should not suffer from mistakes that are out of their control.”

During a video call on TODAY Aug. 12, Raisman explained that the ruling was “appalling” and “completely devastating.” Raisman found herself in a similar situation at the 2012 Games when her coach appealed a tie-breaking, third-place score on the balance beam finals. She ended up receiving the bronze.

On Aug. 16, Raisman returned to TODAY after Chiles spoke out about her bronze medal being “stripped away.”

“I really can’t even imagine what this has been like for Jordan,” Raisman expressed. “I feel awful because it was such an incredible Olympic Games and to be able to watch Jordan on that podium with Rebeca and Simone is one of the most iconic moments in sports, in my opinion, and something that will live on forever.

“I’m just so gutted that this is the end of her Olympic experience, it’s just not OK. But I want answers and Jordan deserves to have answers, too,” she concluded.

A member of Congress has also gotten involved. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) shared a letter on X that he wrote to the president of CAS about Chiles being stripped of her medal. He argued that correcting her score is more important that the technical issue of the timing of the challenge.

“Rather than reward Ms. Chiles for her performance, it diminishes her accomplishments by pointing to a procedural issue in which she had no direct involvement,” Cohen wrote. “Rather than rectify the error of the judges, it blames the competitor.”