The USA Olympic Committee (USOPC) has made it pretty clear that it isn't happy with the decision to strip gymnast Jordan Chiles of her medal in a new statement.
The gymnastic events in this year’s Olympics saw the US come away with nine medals in total.
However, Jordan Chiles has been ordered to return her bronze medal she received for her perfomance in the women's floor final.
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The athlete initially earned a score of 13.666 and landed in fifth place. However, after USA Gymnastics Coach Cécile Landi raised an inquiry over Chiles’ difficulty score, she received another 0.1 of a point, enough to push her past Romania’s Ana Bǎrbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.
This move was then challenged as Mihai Covaliu, the president of the Romanian Olympic Committee, sent a formal letter of protest to the International Gymnastics Federation.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has since upheld Team Romania’s challenge, meaning Bǎrbosu would get the bronze.
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However, on August 14, the USA Olympic Committee had some pretty choice words for the CAS as it accused the international body of shocking errors in handling of the case.
The USOPC alleged that CAS emailed the wrong people to update it on the steps being taken against Chiles, leaving it with very little time to act accordingly before it was ruled Bǎrbosu would take bronze.
It also claimed that it allegedly took three days for CAS to make contact with Chris McCleary, its general counsel, after Romania made its appeal over Chiles' score.
The USOPC statement said: “The USOPC strongly contests the CAS decision due to significant procedural errors.
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“From August 6-9, CAS sent crucial communications to erroneous email addresses at USOPC and USAG, an error not corrected until Aug. 9 - three days after filing, two days past the deadline to submit objections and less than 24 hours before the hearing."
The statement continued: "This deprived us of adequate time to respond meaningfully or gather necessary evidence. We informed CAS of our objections immediately."
But the US doesn’t intend to take this lying down and was also clear of its intentions to fight this decision.
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USOPC went on: “Our objections have since been validated by new evidence indicating administrative errors by FIG (The International Gymnastics Federation) and mishandlings by CAS, which would have been impossible to raise at the time of the rushed hearing. In short, we were denied a meaningful opportunity to be heard.
“Given these circumstances, we are committed to pursuing an appeal to ensure Jordan Chiles receives the recognition she deserves. Our pursuit of truth in this matter remains unwavering.”
UNILAD has contacted the Court of Arbitration of Sport and International Gymnastics Federation for comment.
Topics: Olympics, Sport, US News, Jordan Chiles
Gerrard Kaonga