New documentary footage may provide crucial video evidence for Jordan Chiles to reclaim Olympic bronze medal
Written by ABC Audio All Rights Reserved on September 25, 2024
(NEW YORK) — U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles could be one step closer to reclaiming her Olympic bronze medal.
In the ongoing battle to get back the medal that was stripped from Chiles after the women’s floor exercise final at the Paris games, her legal team said it believes they have new evidence to further support her case.
The Olympic gymnast filed a second appeal to overturn the decision to strip her of the medal, urging Switzerland’s supreme court to require the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reopen the case and consider what her attorneys said is crucial video and audio evidence.
In video footage that was filmed by a documentary crew who was following Chiles’ teammate Simone Biles at the 2024 Paris Olympics, her coach can be heard asking for an inquiry into Chiles’ floor routine twice within what appears to be the one minute deadline required by the committee.
The inquiry initially led the judges to award Chiles an extra tenth of a point increase that, at the time, moved her from fifth place to third over Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, who had already begun celebrating the bronze before Chiles’ adjusted score was posted.
Days later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided that inquiry and said the coach’s appeal to change her degree in difficulty score was filed four seconds too late and gave the bronze medal Barbosu.
The latest appeal was filed in conjunction with a similar application from USA Gymnastics, which told ABC News the video evidence “…Clearly proves Jordan’s bronze-medal finish in Paris was correct … as Jordan has publicly stated, the case at this point is about her peace and justice, and the right of all athletes to be treated fairly.”
Chiles recently choked up when talking about the controversy earlier this month.
“The biggest thing that was taken from me was a recognition of who I was,” she said holding back tears at the 2024 Forbes Power Women’s Summit.
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