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American Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles has shared her thoughts on whether racism was a factor in the decision that led to the cancellation of her bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
During an interview on the “Baby, This is Keke Palmer” podcast, Chiles was asked if she “accepts” that she had “experienced racism” after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned a score change that placed Chiles third on the women’s floor exercise medal podium and dropping her to fifth place.
“At first I didn’t think of things that way until I started almost literally getting racist comments and saying this and that and saying like people were telling me to kill myself and it got to a really, really difficult point,” Chiles said in response.
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Chiles took third place on the first-ever Olympic women’s gymnastics podium that included three black medalists, alongside American teammate Simone Biles and Brazilian Rebeca Andrade. Chiles now says the “all-black” podium was something “people don’t like.”
Simone Biles (silver), Brazilian Rebeca Andrade (gold) and American Jordan Chiles (bronze) demonstrate sportsmanship during the podium ceremony of the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, August 5, 2024. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
“I had to get off social media for a while. Because it was, you know, it was really hard to see that as an athlete, let alone an athlete, I’m up there, yes, it’s an ‘all black’ podium, which is very rare, it’s obviously something that people don’t like.
“As a woman of color, I started to see that more. They didn’t want to see that, they didn’t want to see three beautiful black women standing on that podium. They didn’t want to see the fact that we were just dominating. And I really took that to heart.”
Romania’s Ana Barbosu initially finished with a higher score than Chile once the American completed her routine.
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At the end of the floor exercise final at the summer games in August, Barbosu earned third place and a podium spot after judging concluded. Barbosu was visibly elated when she saw the final scores.
But then an American coach went to the judges and appealed the score on one of Chiles’ moves. Upon review, Chiles’ score was increased, placing the American in third place and leaving Barbosu off the podium. When Barbosu looked up and saw the score change on the board, she dropped the Romanian flag she was holding, covered her face with her hands and walked away in tears.
Ana Barbosu of Romania enters the arena before the floor final on day ten of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Bercy Arena on August 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Chiles then accepted the bronze medal and joined Biles and Andrade on the podium.
Then, on the final day of the Olympics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Chile’s appeal had been submitted after the one-minute time limit and changed her score to drop her to fifth place. The next day, August 11, 2004, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled that Chile must return the medal.
Chiles previously claimed she faced “racist attacks” from social media users in a statement posted to X.
In her first interview after the incident, she made similar comments.
“For me, everything that happened was not about the medal, but, you know, my skin color,” Chiles said in a September 2024 interview during a panel at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit.
The controversy brought international attention to the judges who scored the event. The Sports Arbitration Center (TAS) and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) issued a joint statement condemning the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the judging team for the outcome.
“If the FIG had put such a mechanism or arrangement in place, much heartache would have been avoided,” the CAS ad hoc committee said in a statement. “The Commission expresses the hope that the FIG will draw consequences from this matter in the future, in relation to these three extraordinary athletes as well as for other athletes and their support staff, so that this does not happen again.”
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Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles of Team USA pose with their Paris 2024 Olympic medals after the artistic gymnastics women’s floor exercise final on the tenth day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Bercy Arena on August 5, 2024, in Paris, France. Chiles’ medal was later retired (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Chiles and Team USA are currently involved in an appeal against the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Chiles’ lawyers argued that his coach did indeed make the request on time and that there is video evidence to prove it, and they also indicated that the official who made the decision to strip Chiles’ medal had ties to Romania.
Chiles also filed an appeal with the Swiss Federal Court to overturn the CAS decision. She argued that she was not given a fair chance to defend herself and that the CAS did not properly consider the video evidence.
Barbosu received her bronze medal shortly after the Olympics ended and expressed sympathy for her American opponent, as well as her Romanian teammate, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, whose finish was also affected by the score change.
“I can’t stop thinking about Sabrina and Jordan right now,” Barbosu said in a statement. “This is a difficult situation for us, with so much uncertainty and overwhelming emotions. I hope everyone understands that we did nothing wrong at the Olympics. And that the Olympic spirit is more important than any misunderstanding between authorities.
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Barbosu currently competes in women’s gymnastics at Stanford, while Chiles competes at UCLA. The two programs are scheduled to face off on March 7.
