Former Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes has advised Jordan Chiles to not let the drama around her bronze medal dispute with Ana Barbosu affect her long-term.

The 47-year-old, 1996 Atlanta gold medalist was part of a similar ordeal at the 2000 Olympic Games when she and her US teammates finished fourth in the team event.

But nearly a decade later, the Americans were awarded a bronze medal after officials revealed that a gymnast on Team China had an underage competitor.

‘This will test her character,’ Dawes told TMZ about Court of Arbitration for Sports’ decision to strip Chiles from her bronze medal. ‘But, it will show us all the champion that she truly is.’

Dawes, who has yet to reach out to Chiles about her disputed third place finish in floor exercises in Paris, explained that the UCLA gymnast should still feel good about relishing an iconic podium moment despite the entire situation being an ’emotional rollercoaster.’

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The drama around Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal will ‘test her character,’ per Dominque Dawes

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Dawes has yet to contact Chiles about her disputed third place finish in floor at the Olympics

‘A lot of athletes that are awarded Olympic medals down the road because of a violation or a certain rule that was broken, they didn’t have that Olympic medal experience,’ Dawes pointed out.

‘[Chiles] got that experience, and not only did she get the experience, it was an iconic image that was taken from it.

‘It was an all Black female podium shot that has never occurred before, and may not occur again.’

Chiles has a slight chance of retaining her medal as US officials have filed an appeal to get the ruling changed.

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Dawes was part of a similar ordeal at 2000 Sydney when she and Team USA finished fourth

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Dawes described the podium consisting of Chiles, Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade as iconic

Regardless, Dawes is proud of the 23-year-old and thinks Simone Biles, 27, will stand up for her teammate and close friend.

‘She’s been outspoken about the support or lack thereof from USA Gymnastics, and we’ll see if they choose to stand up for their athletes as they maybe haven’t done so much in the past,’ Dawes said of Biles.

Barbosu is expected to receive Chiles’ bronze medal during a ceremony in Bucharest – Romania’s capital – on Friday.