Jordan Chiles cries as she breaks silence on losing USA Olympic bronze medal: 'People didn't support me, I was left in the dark'

Daily Mail UK ^ | September 11, 2024 | Alex Raskin

[Morgana]

A tearful Jordan Chiles opened up to a live audience on Wednesday about the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to strip her of her bronze medal from the floor routine at the Paris Olympics.

'The biggest thing that was taken from me was the recognition of who I was, not just my sport, but the person I am,' Chiles told the Forbes Power Women's Summit.

Chiles initially finished fifth in the eight-woman final before Team USA coach Cecile Landi appealed Chiles' score, asking to receive credit for a maneuver that would boost her score by .1. The appeal was granted, moving Chiles into third. She was awarded the bronze and participated in the medal ceremony following the competition.

However, Romania successfully protested to the CAS that Landi's appeal was not made within one minute of Chiles' score being posted, and the panel has since ruled the bronze should go to Barbosu. The International Gymnastics Federation reinstated the initial order of finish and the IOC announced on it would reallocate the bronze to Barbosu, who received the medal during a ceremony in Bucharest last month.

'To me, everything that has gone on is not about the medal,' Chiles, who is African American, told the crowd on Wednesday. 'It's about my skin color, it's about the fact that there were things that have led up to this position of being an athlete, and I felt like everything has been stripped. I felt like back in 2018, where I did lose the love of the sport, I lost it again. I just felt like there wasn't a lot of people supporting me.'

[goodolemr]

I don’t think that matters. Once you become this must see attraction in sports, its hard to lose that. And basketball relies much more on star driven ratings than football, where the brand/game itself gets people to watch.

[Political Junkie Too]

I didn't say it was racist, but I do think a fair competition wants to make sure the judges get it right. The competitor shouldn't be punished for the calculation errors of judges. Nor should they be on the lookout for judging mistakes.

I think most people assume that at the highest level of competition, the judges are also of the highest caliber so they don't assume calculation errors. When one pops up, the judges should own the mistake and correct it and not rely on a four-second technicality to cover it up.

-PJ

[for-q-clinton]

Chiles said it was racist. So my point is the only person she can call racist in this is the coach.

[Political Junkie Too]

I agree.

If someone wants to see an example of real racism in Olympic judging, they should go back to the figure skating of Surya Bonaly of France and how she was treated back in the 1990s.

-PJ

[Spacetrucker]

I don’t agree - that supposed “must-see” attraction can be an instant has-been when they support that which is not in the fans best interest. People are very aware of what their sports stars do with their support.

[imabadboy99]

looks like a dude, imo.

[packrat35]

Not true, they claimed they were 2 seconds late but the film showed that wasn’t true. Her whining about race is stupid.

People did support her and the ruling was BS but not about race.

[Svartalfiar]

"To me, everything that has gone on is not about the medal,' Chiles, who is African American, told the crowd on Wednesday. 'It's about my skin color,

She' s African American? Well why didn't she go compete for Africa then? She probably could have been significantly better than her team and competed in more events!

And nobody cares that she's black, there's plenty of other blacks who scored medals. Why weren't they also "discriminated against"?

And it's a bronze medal, who cares? She's not even first loser, that's second loser...