Jordan Chiles, the American gymnast who was stripped of her bronze medal from last month's Olympics over a technicality, has taken her fight to reclaim her third-place finish to Switzerland’s Supreme Court. On Monday, Chiles filed an appeal, seeking to overturn the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) decision that led to her medal being revoked.
Initially, Chiles had secured the bronze in the women’s floor final. However, her victory was short-lived when CAS ruled that an inquiry into her score, which had bumped her into third place, was not submitted before the one-minute deadline. As a result, the competition’s results were retroactively altered, and Romania’s Ana Barbosu was awarded the bronze medal instead.
The appeal highlights crucial evidence that might sway the court in Chiles’s favor. Footage from a documentary crew, which was following Chiles's teammate Simone Biles, captured audio of Chiles’s coach, Cecile Landi, requesting an inquiry within the crucial minute after Chiles’s score was posted. Although Landi is not visible in the video, her voice can be clearly heard asking for an "Inquiry for Jordan!" twice.
U.S. officials have raised significant concerns about the CAS hearing's procedures, labeling it as “rushed.” They point out that CAS failed to notify USA Gymnastics about Romania’s appeal in a timely manner, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee was only contacted the day before the hearing on August 10. These lapses in communication could strengthen Chiles’s appeal in the Swiss court.
CAS decisions can only be appealed on very specific grounds: issues like lack of jurisdiction, violations of basic procedural rules, or incompatibility with public policy. Appeals must focus on these procedural errors rather than simply disagreeing with the decision itself. The Swiss court will assess whether Chiles’s appeal meets these criteria and decide if the challenge should be upheld or dismissed.
Chiles’s legal team argues that the CAS decision should be overturned due to procedural issues that infringed on Chiles’s "right to be heard." They also point out CAS’s refusal to consider new evidence submitted by USA Gymnastics after the hearing and an alleged conflict of interest involving Hamid Gharavi, the CAS panel president who had previously represented Romania in legal matters.
Chiles is preparing to file another petition to the Swiss court, and the outcome of both appeals could potentially lead to a retrial at CAS. Maurice M. Suh, Chiles’s attorney, emphasized the importance of fairness in every aspect of the Olympics, including the arbitration process.
The crux of the bronze medal dispute revolves around the challenge of Chiles’s score made by Landi. As Chiles was the last competitor, Landi had just a minute to initiate the inquiry. The Romanian Gymnastics Federation argued that Landi missed this crucial deadline, rendering the score change invalid. CAS’s decision to reinstate Chiles’s previous score was based on timestamps from an official report, which showed that the inquiry request was logged after the deadline.
USA Gymnastics had submitted new evidence the day after CAS’s ruling, including footage from the documentary crew, but CAS declined to reconsider its decision. This has led Chiles to seek justice through the Swiss court. USA Gymnastics expressed full support for Chiles’s appeal, stating that they are working closely with her legal team and will continue to support her pursuit of justice.
The CAS decision was based on a report from Omega, the official timekeeping system of the Olympics, which showed a 1-minute, 4-second gap between when Chiles’s score was recorded and when Landi’s request was logged. According to technical regulations, the verbal notification of an inquiry must occur before the deadline, although there could be a slight delay in logging the request.
During the CAS hearing, USA Gymnastics did not dispute the timekeeping report or request additional time to prove that the inquiry was made in time. However, Chiles’s attorneys have contested the timing of the request, arguing that Landi’s request was made within the permissible timeframe. The video evidence provided by USA Gymnastics aligns with this claim, showing Landi’s request at 47 and 55 seconds after the score was posted.
In a comprehensive report published after the Games, International Gymnastics Federation President Morinari Watanabe described the medal dispute as a “tragedy” and called for reforms to minimize such errors in the future. Watanabe stressed the need for technological advancements in judging and greater courage to address issues as they arise, which he believes would prevent similar controversies in future competitions.
As the legal battle continues, the outcome of Chiles’s appeal could have significant implications for the integrity of Olympic judging and arbitration processes.
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