Joe McConnell
Gymnast Jordan Chiles says she received racist abuse online after controversially losing her bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.
“I am overwhelmed by the love I have received over the past few days,” Chiles said, beginning her statement on the social media site X.
“As I celebrated my Olympic successes, I heard the devastating news that my bronze medal had been stripped. I had faith in the appeal filed by USAG, which provided conclusive evidence that my score complied with all the rules. This appeal was unsuccessful. I am speechless. This decision seems unfair and represents a huge blow, not only to me, but to everyone who has supported my journey.”
Chiles then turned his attention to the social media attacks he says he has received.
“To add to the pain, the unsolicited racist attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful. I have poured my heart and soul into this sport and am so proud to represent my culture and country,” she said.
“I will never waver from my values of competing with integrity, striving for excellence, upholding the values of sportsmanship and rules that dictate fairness. I am proud to root for everyone, regardless of team or country. Finding joy again has been a culture shift and I love seeing others embrace it. I feel like I have given everyone permission to be authentic to who they are.”
Chiles won bronze in the women’s floor exercise in Paris when her coach filed a request to challenge the judges’ initial score and her score was corrected from 13.666 to 13.766.
Chiles rose to third place, overtaking Romanian Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.
Romania took its case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), claiming that the U.S. investigation was not conducted within the one-minute time limit set by the rules. Romania argued that the Americans missed that time limit by four seconds.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of Romania and ordered that Chiles’ bronze medal be re-awarded to Barbosu, who had achieved the same score as her compatriot (13.7), but had obtained a higher execution score.
USA Gymnastics (USAG) later said it had video evidence showing that coach Cecile Landi filed an appeal 47 seconds after Chiles’ initial score was posted, well within the time limit, but the CAS said it would not reopen the case.
USAG intends to appeal to the Swiss Federal Court.
Laura Woods Receives Death Threats After Comments in Article About Boxing at the Paris Olympics
Meanwhile, TV host Laura Woods revealed that she received “numerous death threats for me and my unborn child,” among other offensive messages on social media, after commenting on an article about the eligibility of Olympic boxing champions Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting.
Khelif and Lin won boxing gold amid worldwide outcry over their eligibility to compete in the women’s division, following an avalanche of criticism and uninformed speculation about their gender on social media.
