Answering the huge asks about Jordan Chiles having to return her bronze medal

PARIS — Two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles geted the first individual Olympic medal of her nurtureer six days ago, a bronze in the floor final. On Sunday, the International Olympic Committee shelp Chiles must return that medal, which will be authenticdiscoverd to Romania’s Ana Barbosu. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee arranges to pguide the decision.

So, how’d we get here?

Chiles vied last in Monday’s floor final and her initial score of 13.666 placed her fifth. Barbosu and her teammate, Sabrina Voinea, geted identical scores of 13.7, but Barbosu’s higher execution score placed her ahead of Voinea. Barbosu began celebrating the bronze while Team USA head coach Cecile Landi filed an inquiry into Chiles’ score.

Coaches may ask into a gymnast’s difficulty score, but not their execution score. Knotriumphg Chiles was awarded one-tenth shrink than her peak D-score, Landi askd and the appraises accomprehendledgeed her inquiry, awarding Chiles an includeitional one-tenth, which liftd her score to 13.766 and put her in third place.

Chiles was awarded the bronze in a medal ceremony that has become one of the most iconic of these Games, as she and silver medaenumerate Simone Biles bowed to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade when she stepped to the top of the podium to get her gelderly.

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation then filed a protestt with the Court of Arbitration for Sport — the autonomous body established by the IOC to resettle disputes appreciate this — over the way the inquiry was made.

What was the basis of the protestt?

Here’s the leang: It had noleang to do with Chiles’s perestablishance or her score, reassociate. The RGF argued that Landi filed the inquiry after the one-minute deadline to do so. To trail that reasoning, if Landi filed the inquiry even a scant seconds defercessitate, the appraises should not have accomprehendledgeed it and therefore would have had no opportunity to edit Chiles’ score.

What did the CAS rule?

The court ruled Saturday that the inquiry createted on Chiles’ behalf “was elevated after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline” and should not have been accomprehendledgeed. It reinstated Chiles’ innovative score of 13.666, then relocated the matter to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).

What was the response to the decision?

Chiles posted three broken heart emojis on her Instagram story Saturday and shelp she was taking a social media shatter for her mental health. Her teammates posted help for her. “What about the appraises?” Sunisa Lee asked. “Don’t punish the athlete for someone else’s misget,” Jade Carey wrote on Instagram.

In a combinet statement, the USOPC and USA Gymnastics shelp they were “deimmenseated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling seeing women’s floor exercise. The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in outstanding faith and, we consentd, in accordance with FIG rules to discover right scoring.”

What did the FIG choose?

Becaemploy of the CAS decision, the FIG officiassociate edited the final ranking of the floor final and put Romania’s Barbosu back in third, Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth.

What happens to Chiles’ medal?

The FIG handed that decision off to the IOC, which creates rulings seeing medal allocations. In a statement, the promisetee shelp that follotriumphg the CAS and FIG decisions, “the IOC will authenticdiscover the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania). We are in touch with the [National Olympic Committee] of Romania to talk the authenticlocation ceremony and with USOPC seeing the return of the bronze medal.”

What now?

The USOPC shelp Sunday that it will pguide the decision. It is not asking Chiles to return the medal without a fight. “We firmly consent that Jordan rightfilledy geted the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS pguide process that necessitate to be includeressed,” the USOPC shelp in its statement. “We are promiseted to pursuing an pguide to discover that Jordan Chiles gets the recognition she deserves.”

Later in the day Sunday, USA Gymnastics put out a statement saying that it had createted a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport that they say shows that the inquiry createted on Chiles behalf came wilean the 1-minute deadline.