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Louise Thomas
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After US gymnast Jordan Chiles had her bronze medal taken away—a decision the US has said it will appeal—teammates, including Simone Biles and others from the sports world blasted the Olympic’s decision.
Fellow gymnast Suni Lee took her Instagram Stories to share her disappointment with the Olympic judges. She wrote, “All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?? Completely unacceptable. This is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan.”
“I got your back forever Jo,” she added. “[You] have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an Olympic champion.💐”
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chiles won a bronze medal for the individual floor exercise, while Biles won silver. Chiles was initially placed in fifth until her coach submitted an inquiry on her score, leading judges to revisit her routine and change her score. Her new score edged out Romania’s Ana Barbosu for third place and earned her a spot on the podium alongside Biles and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, the gold medalist.
However, the Romanian team has since appealed the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after it was made in the hope that Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea’s original scores would be reinstated.
Since Chiles’ coach submitted their inquiry out of the 1-minute window allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation, the court ultimately voided Chiles’ score change. The change was announced on August 10 leading Chiles to promptly announce that she would be going on a social media break amid the controversy.
“I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you,” she wrote on her Instagram story. Her teammates have since voiced their support amid the difficult news, taking to social media platforms like Instagram to share their kind words.
Several famous faces have now blasted the decision to take away Chiles’ medal.
“Sending you so much love Jordan,” Biles wrote in an Instagram post which included a photo of the two gymnasts embracing. “Keep your chin up olympic champ! We love you!”
NBA champion and fellow Olympian LeBron James also subtly voiced his support of Chiles with a series of emojis - including an infinity symbol, a brown heart and an American flag - while commenting on a post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, from the official Team USA account. In the caption, it reads: “Forever THAT girl.”
Fans have also been outraged on Chiles’ behalf taking to Instagram comment sections to share their support for the gymnast. Many noted that Barbosu and Chiles would have been perfectly fine sharing the bronze medal.
“Both women should get the medal,” one social media user wrote. “This is beyond ridiculous.”
Another added, “The athletes and their respective countries were okay sharing the bronze, no idea why they’re making this decision instead.”
