Gymnast Jordan Chiles is taking her fight for the Olympic bronze medal to the Swiss Federal Court. She is thereby protesting against a decision by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The girlfriend of star athlete Simone Biles is supported by the US Gymnastics Association and the US National Olympic Committee.
The CAS refused to allow any further appeals after an appeal by Romania was upheld and Chiles subsequently lost her medal in the floor exercise to Ana Barbosu. Chiles now argues that she had a right to be heard and to present her own evidence.
Already on the day of the competition there are many emotions
During the floor exercise on August 5, the US team objected to the assessment of Chiles’ performance. After reviewing the video recordings, the jury decided to recognize one element and increase the difficulty rating. Chiles climbed to third place. However, the decision was not made until after the rankings were announced. At that time, the Romanian Barbosu had already celebrated her third place in the hall with the country’s flag over her shoulder.
The Romanian federation then lodged an appeal with the CAS on the grounds that the US team had requested the correction after one minute and four seconds instead of within one minute of the score being announced, as was in accordance with the rules. The CAS agreed with this argument and declared the correction in Chile’s favour to be ineffective.
Process can take years
As a result, the US Gymnastics Federation submitted new video material which, in its view, proves that the first protest was communicated after just 47 seconds and a second after 55 seconds. Because this evidence was no longer taken into account by the CAS, Chiles is now taking the case to the Federal Court. The proceedings could drag on for months or even years.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240917-930-234568/1
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