Jordan Chiles revealed she still has her Paris Olympics bronze medal, despite being ordered to return it seven months ago. The Team USA gymnast was controversially stripped of her floor exercise medal after a dispute involving Romania’s Ana Barbosu.
Chiles initially placed fifth, but a U.S. appeal boosted her score, moving her to third behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and Simone Biles.
Chiles lost her Olympic bronze medal after the Romanian athletic commission successfully appealed to the IOC, arguing that Team USA’s initial challenge was filed four seconds too late.
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As a result, the medal was reallocated to Romania’s Ana Barbosu. However, seven months later, Chiles claims she still has the bronze despite being ordered to return it.
Chiles told Candace Parker on the Trophy Room podcast that she still considers herself a bronze medalist despite the IOC ruling. “It’s still a bronze in my head, it’s still a bronze in my heart. I still have the medal if anybody is asking,” she said, as reported by Daily Mail.
“I still have it and I can’t really continue on my life with having something so small but so big in the world carry in my heart for the rest of my life. I can’t let that happen.
“So now I’m enjoying life. I’m at UCLA, I’m doing everything I can. I get to enjoy the support now.”
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Chiles concluded by insisting she will “continue to fight” while thanking her fans for helping her to “enjoy being able to stand on my own two feet and be proud of what I’ve accomplished.”
Earlier this month, Chiles blamed Barbosu’s coach for the controversy at the Paris Olympics, which led to an ongoing feud.
The two-time Olympic medalist is still challenging the ruling in court with the support of US Gymnastics. She also reflects on the dispute in her new book, I’m That Girl.
She wrote: “I was crushed and angry. None of this would have happened if Ana’s coach, who knew that Cecile had submitted an inquiry right after my floor routine, had waited for the inquiry results to come in before allowing Ana to take the podium, holding her flag.
“That was highly unusual and premature. Our coaches would not have allowed us to do that.
“Everyone knows you don’t celebrate until after everything is final – and an inquiry for my score had been announced.”
She continued: “The fact that the validity of my medal was being questioned after the fact – days after the medal ceremony had taken place – was surprising and outrageous to me.
“Once the medal ceremony has happened, that is the final result unless a drug or rules violation is discovered. That had been the case at every single Olympics in history.”
