“It’s hard to tell yourself everything is going to be fine when we literally didn’t do anything wrong” : Jordan Chiles after narrowly missing out on the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics
Post the Paris Olympics, Jordan Chiles has had an unfortunate time to say the least. Stripped of her bronze medal for floor exercise on the last day of the games by the International Olympic Committee due to their abidance for a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling, has made a few public comments about this matter, as she believes that she was treated unfairly.
Chiles was originally not even considered for a podium finish as she was fifth in the rankings, but after her coach Cecile Landi saw an error from the judges during the evaluation, she was moved on to the bronze medal spot after the scores were corrected.
But unfortunately for her, on the last day of the Olympics, the International Olympic announced that Cecile Landi protested just four seconds past the one-minute deadline, which led to Jordan Chiles being pushed out of the top 3 spot, as the bronze medal eventually came to Ana Barbosu from Romania.
Jordan Chiles reflects on why the bronze medal is so important to her
After months of looking for ‘justice’ and ‘peace’ in additions to filing appeals to the Switzerland Supreme Court to overturn their decision, nothing has worked out for Chiles yet, who believes the ruling was incorrect and that her coach protested on time. Recently interviewed by NBC’s TODAY Show, Chiles revealed how difficult it has been for her while explaining the real value of the lost medal.
“It’s hard to tell yourself everything is going to be fine when we literally didn’t do anything wrong. Everything was in the time that it needed to be, for them to come back and say it was four seconds too late when we have proof … I can only control what my truth is, and I know that we were right.” said Chiles.
Jordan Chiles also revealed that she had to endure racist comments on the internet due to her ethnicity, due to her father being black and mother from the Latina side.
In addition to this lost medal, it was not like Chiles went home empty handed. She also won a team gold medal in Paris while previously winning another bronze at Tokyo. So, when asked about why this particular one holds so much value to her, the American explained about her ‘redemption tour’ while coming to Paris.
“It was like a cherry on top. My redemption tour going into Paris was ‘Yes.’ Coming back with a gold, coming back with the understanding that I was able to go out there and be the best version of myself, with this floor medal it was like, ‘wow, I never expected myself to make a floor final.’ Plus, it was an all-Black podium. That was history being made. I was very glad to be a part of,” said Chiles.
“I’ll be able to overcome this. And I’ll be able to look back and say: ‘You know what? That was just a portion of my story, but it’s the truth,’” the 23-year-old added.
The American gymnast was also asked about her plans for the 2028 Olympics which will be held in Los Angeles, to which she explained that she would like to move on from Paris first and start fresh after that.
“L.A. is in and out of my mind. I think right now I’m just trying to take in what’s happened from Paris and just take day by day.” the two-time Olympic winner said.
Jordan Chiles, who is only 23, has a long time ahead of her to win more medals and accolades, to a point where this missed bronze medal opportunity will just be a small page in her book.
