Now that the 2024 Paris Olympics have come to an end, Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles has ended up at the center of a controversy. After being awarded a gold medal with the rest of her team, along with a bronze medal for individual floor exercise, Jordan is now being told to return her second medal after a score recalculation showed that the medal should have gone to one of her competitors. But the issue has people online divided, with many taking Jordan's side on this one.
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The situation began unfolding during Jordan's floor routine.
When she took part in the individual floor exercise, her score originally put her in fifth place, which meant she wouldn't make it to the podium. However, after her her coach, Cecil Landi, filed an inquiry into the score claiming that she deserved a higher difficulty score, it was recalculated. Jordan's score went from 13.666 to 13.766, guaranteeing her a spot on the podium and her bronze medal.
The Romanian Olympic Committee protested the change.
Romanian officials claimed that the Romanian gymnast who Jordan overtook, Ana Barbosu, deserved the bronze medal after she was led to believe she'd be receiving it before the score was recalculated.
But it wasn't until over the weekend that the Court of Arbitration for Sport made its final decision, ruling in Ana's favor — and that means Jordan has to give her bronze medal back.
So far, Jordan has remained silent on social media.
As People reported, Jordan took to her Instagram Stories after the final decision was announced, writing, "I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you."
Since then, she's stayed quiet.
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This has sparked a lot of conversation online.
Olympics fans are outraged on Jordan's behalf, with many of them taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share their thoughts.
One person wrote: "She did nothing wrong. She didn’t dope. She didn’t cheat. She's losing her bronze medal because supposed adults in charge screwed up, but she’s one paying the price."
USA Gymnastics is already fighting back.
The organization is standing behind Jordan on this and have already submitted video evidence to show that Coach Landi submitted the inquiry into her score within the deadline.
Here's hoping the situation is resolved soon.
