Court of Arbitration for Sport rejects US appeal over medal award to Romanian gymnast

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, has denied a request by USA Gymnastics, Jordan Chiles and the U.S. Olympic Committee to reopen the floor exercise bronze medal case at the 2024 Olympic Games.

The medal in question has been at the center of a dispute between the U.S. and Romanian Gymnastics Federations. On Sunday, August 11, the International Gymnastics Federation, or FIG, ruled that Ana Maria Bărbosu should receive the bronze medal in the floor exercise competition at the 2024 Olympic Games, effectively taking it from American gymnast Jordan Chiles. However, the U.S. Gymnastics Federation appealed the decision with new video evidence.

The Court dismissed the appeal, stressing that during the proceedings it had been “conclusively established by means of official recordings” that the appeal filed by the American coach had been filed too late, after the 1-minute time limit.

Before the dismissal, USA Gymnastics stated that it had provided CAS with video footage that was not available before the decision to strip Chiles of his medal. However, the footage was found to be inconclusive.

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation (FRG), for its part, stated that it was never in favor of stripping Chiles of her Olympic medal, but rather supported the initiative to have Jordan Chiles, Ana-Maria Bărbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea all receive the bronze medal.

According to The Guardian, there is a precedent for awarding double medals when judging questions become too complicated to answer. “That precedent was set in 2002, when a scandal that spread all the way to allegations of Russian mafia interference led the IOC to award a double gold medal to Canadian figure skating pair Jamie Sale and David Pelletier,” the article states.

The federation also asked that the athletes involved not be attacked. “The FRG, together with its partners, has always tried to resolve this dispute in a way that shows respect and appreciation for the athletes involved. We hereby appeal to the entire gymnastics community, both domestic and foreign, to STOP the attacks on gymnasts Jordan Chiles, Ana-Maria Bărbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, and in particular on Nadia Comăneci, whose intervention has always been in favor of all three athletes/three medalists,” the federation’s statement read.

Nadia Comăneci, now 62, is a five-time Olympic gold medalist. Critics of her involvement in the affair had alleged that she was racist, as American gymnast Jordan Chiles is African-American. Comăneci, who explained the process of awarding the medal and supported the Romanian athletes, was also subjected to other insults online, Digi24 reported.

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