Jordan Chiles Says Olympic Medal Stripped Is 'The Person I Am'
Jordan Chiles spoke about being stripped of her Olympic bronze medal at the Forbes Power Women's Summit on Wednesday. Speaking to Moira Forbes, Chiles said it wasn't just the medals that were taken from her.
“The biggest thing that was taken from me, was the recognition of who I am,” the gymnast said. “Not just my game, the person I am.”
He continued, “It's not about the medal. It's about the color of my skin. It was something that led to this position of being an athlete. And I felt like everything was taken away. I felt like when I came back in 2018 where I was in the sport. Lost love, I lost it again.”
Chiles initially won the bronze medal for her floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer. After the medal ceremony, the International Olympic Committee decided to strip her of her medals following an appeal from Romania which relegated their team's gymnast Ana Barbosu to third place. Chiles received significant abuse on social media following the incident.
He addressed the situation in a statement in August, sharing his frustration at the sports body's “unfair” decision to take his medal and give it to Team Romania.
“I have no words,” he wrote at the time. “This decision feels unfair and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to those who have championed my journey,” he wrote. “To add to the heartbreak, unprovoked racially motivated attacks on social media are wrong and deeply hurtful.”
“I have poured my heart and soul into this sport and I am proud to represent my culture and my country,” he added.
At the Games, Chiles' coach appealed to the judges, arguing that the difficulty level of his routine was incorrect; The judges agreed, and when the score was adjusted by 0.1, Chiles' new score of 13.766 was enough to surpass Barboso and Voinier's 13.700, earning her bronze at the last minute.
However, after Romania's plea, CAS found that Team USA's plea came one minute and four minutes later. sec – The coaches had one minute to appeal the score after judging — and thus CAS overruled Team USA's appeal and dropped Chiles' score to 13.666 and fifth place. USAG responded with an appeal that proved the team's request came before the allotted 60 seconds, but the decision remained the same.
Speaking at the Forbes event, Chiles noted, “I followed the rules. My coach follows the rules. We did everything that was absolutely right.”
She added, “It's been really hard to get all the love and support. Looking out here, seeing everyone, I can feel it now. But at first it was really hard, because of how badly my heart was broken. I appreciate every single person who was able to come out and say what they needed to say. Whether it's through social media, news outlets, just people texting me, I appreciate it so much.
Chiles also confirmed that this does not mark the end of his career. “It's not over,” Chiles said. “Because at this rate, it's not really about the medal. It is about my peace and my justice.”
Last night, Flavor Flav presented Chili's with a bronze clock medal as a consolation prize during the MTV Video Music Awards. “I know they tried to take your medal away from you,” the rapper said. “But I got you something they can't take away from you.”
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