by Kate Disher ’28
October 2, 2024
Jordan Chiles is a poster child of USA gymnastics. She qualified for the Olympics with Team USA and finished the floor routine final on August 5 in fifth place, earning a score of 13.666.
Ana Barbosu is a young go-getter who has trained her whole life to get to the Olympics, and she finally qualified to compete for the Romanian team. At only 18, Barbosu scored a 13.700 in the floor routine, securing her spot on the podium in third place. Her team was overjoyed at her success.
Team USA filed an inquiry, alleging that Chiles’s routine didn’t get full credit for a split leap with a rotation. Chiles got bumped up to third, and Barbosu got knocked down to fourth. After all the ecstaticism of Barbosu’s win, the Romanians were devastated about the loss of her medal. Now, all of a sudden, the higher powers in the teams and administrations were making decisions that the gymnasts were getting pushback for.
Zazou Gray ‘28, said that the medal switch caused unnecessary aggravation.
“I think it will affect the Olympic procedures, just paying attention to more detail. I’m sure they already take videos and things but, just making sure that we rewatch these clips. It’s hard because [the medal] being switched caused a lot of aggravation,” she said. Gray points out the stress and strife that the athletes must be experiencing in the midst of the controversy, and how they shouldn’t be viewed as deciding parties in the controversy as they are not the ones making the decisions.
Caren Lyons, USN’s high school dance teacher, agrees and wonders about the toll that this experience takes on athletes.
“[I am] interested in how we can be thinking about how these bigger rules and systems impact our athletes, and advocating on the part of the athletes. So the theme is mental health and encouraging the care of mental health, and advocating for our athletes, for their for their well being, beyond the fact that they’re competing in this event.”
Lyons stresses the important point of the Olympians’ mental health because.
“This [switching the medals after the competition] is insane. Once the game is over, the game is over, you don’t go back. You just don’t [continue the disagreement] and doing this sort of thing over and over again.” She said.
Another USN student, Flora Li ‘27, is tired of the back and forth.
“I think they should just give it to both of them so that they can stop the beef,” Li said.
“ I think the best thing to do is to just give it to both of them, just to keep everything calm because if [Chiles and Barbosu] both can’t agree on something, that would be unfair to both of them if neither gets it.” Li continued.
USN Spanish teacher Miranda Russell, a collegiate gymnast for the University of Arizona, has her reservations about the USAG and its biases.
“I think USAG permits a lot of bias and unfair things that happen in the sport,” Russell said. “The power dynamics in gymnastics is that the gymnast, the athlete, is pretty powerless, and that’s how the structure of gymnastics kind of works.”
Russell said that calls like these are always made by administrators and not the gymnasts themselves, who simply “compete, do your best, but a judge is judging you and is going to award you a score, whether you deserve it or not.”
On the athletes’ side of the conflict, Jordan Chiles put out a statement addressing her concerns with the racist attacks that have followed her through this controversy as well as the decisions made in the process on her Instagram page.
“I am overwhelmed by the love I have received over the past few days,” Chiles posted on Instagram on August 15. “While celebrating my Olympic accomplishments, I heard the devastating news that my bronze medal had been stripped away. I had confidence in the appeal brought by USAG, who gave conclusive evidence that my score followed all the rules. This appeal was unsuccessful,” she wrote. “I have no words. This decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey. To add to the heartbreak, the unprompted racially driven attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful.”
“I will approach this challenge as I have others — and will make every effort to ensure that justice is done. I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in control will do the right thing,” Chiles concluded.
Chiles was not the only one to make a statement, however. Barbosu also made a statement after the ceremony in which she received the bronze, celebrating her victory and pointing out her frustrations with the Court of Arbitration.
“Thank you to everyone who added a bit of bronze to this medal. At this moment I can’t help but think of Sabrina (Maneca-Voinea) and Jordan (Chiles). It is a difficult situation for us, with so many uncertainties and overwhelming emotions,” she said in Romanian.
“I hope everyone understands that we didn’t do anything wrong at the Olympic Games. And that the Olympic spirit is more important than any misunderstanding between the authorities. I want to believe that the day will come when all three of us will receive a bronze medal,” she added.
