Chiles finished in fifth place with 13.666 points, but after her coach protested on the field about the difficulty score, the judges increased her score by 0.1 to 13.766, moving her into third place ahead of Romanian skater Ana Barbos, who had already begun celebrating her victory.
Barbos was visibly distraught after seeing the scoreboard and realizing what had happened.
However, the CAS ruled that the Chilean coach’s appeal was submitted four seconds after the one-minute grace period allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), and the original score of 13.666 was reinstated, with Barbos once again placed third.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed the ruling on Sunday.
“The IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbos (Romania). We are in contact with the Romanian NOC to discuss a reallocation ceremony and are in contact with the USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal,” the IOC said in a statement.
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won the gold medal in the event, while U.S. team star Simone Biles took silver.
USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) released a joint statement about the decision, saying they were “shocked by the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision regarding women’s floor exercise.”
“We believe the investigation into the difficulty of Jordan-Childs’ floor exercise was conducted in good faith and in accordance with FIG rules designed to ensure accurate scoring,” the statement continued.
The USOPC said it would appeal the CAS ruling.
In a separate statement posted to Instagram on Sunday, USA Gymnastics said it had submitted a letter with video evidence to the CAS “conclusively establishing that coach Cecil Lundy’s request for an investigation was submitted 47 seconds after the scores were announced, within the one-minute time limit set by FIG rules.”
“In the letter, USA Gymnastics asks that the CAS ruling be reviewed and that Chile’s bronze medal score of 13.766 be reinstated,” the statement added.
A statement from USA Gymnastics and the USOPC also said that Chilis has faced “deeply hurtful attacks on social media” since the incident.
“No athlete should be treated this way and we condemn the attacks and those who participate, support or incite them,” it added.
Chiles said in an Instagram Story on Saturday that she was taking a break from social media for her mental health.
According to the International Olympic Committee, “the reallocation of Olympic medals is not automatic but is decided by the IOC on a case-by-case basis.”
“If the IOC decides to reallocate Olympic medals, this will only be done after the sanctioned athletes and teams have exhausted all remedies and all procedures have been completed,” it added.
Ten athletes who competed in the 2000, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games received their reallocated medals at a ceremony in Paris on Friday.
