The US Gymnastics team was in for a shock five days after Jordan Chiles won the bronze for the individual floor routine.
The competition had already witnessed some discrepancies when the gymnast was underscored on her difficulty, which was later corrected with the help of an inquiry that her coaches raised. However, things went for a toss when the adjustment was nullified.
The Court of Arbitration for Sports recently announced that Chiles might have to give her bronze medal back to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu. This was because Team USA’s inquiry came in a couple of seconds past the deadline for such requests.
This has now caused outrage among the gymnastics world, and several have come forth to support Chiles. They argued how it’s unacceptable to put an athlete through all the trouble, days after they won the Olympic medal fair and square.
All of her teammates, including Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, and Jade Carey, rushed in to offer the 23-year-old moral support. They spoke up against the system and stood by the official statement that the US Gymnastics and US Olympics and Paralympics Committee put out.
Lee argued about how no one questioned the judges:
“all this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?? 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.”
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Biles expressed her displeasure and encouraged Chiles to not give up:
“sending you so much love Jordan…keep your chin up olympic champ! we love you!”
Carey also seemed to agree with Lee on sparing Chiles from the punishment.
“don’t punish the athlete for someone else’s mistake. with you all the way jo. you are forever an olympic champion that has so much to be proud of…”
Unexpected support also came from gymnastics veteran Betty Okino, who felt that the decision was unacceptable.
“Athletes should never have to pay for the errors of the judges. Gutted for Jordan. Both athletes are owed a medal.”
Young teammate Hezley Rivera also sent in her love:
“love you @jordanchiles and will always support you!!!”
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Like Okino, many fans seemed to agree that the judges’ error shouldn’t lead to the stripping of the medal from an athlete who wasn’t at fault.
While the US Gymnastics Committee has worded a strong argument for Chiles, she announced that she would be taking an indefinite break from social media till she felt better.
The situation has set forth a chain of subjects that fans are debating, including the criticism of Chiles when she won the bronze medal. The common consensus now, however, is that she doesn’t deserve to lose her token for no fault of hers.
