Everything you need to know about the Paris Floor Final Bronze Medal Debacle featuring Jordan Chiles (USA), Ana Barbosu (ROM) and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea (ROM), Women’s Technical Committee President, Donatella Sacchi and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Is this a nationalist fight between Romania and the USA or just poor decision making and execution of procedures by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG)? Did CAS act fairly and impartially? This is a guide from gymnastics insiders on everything that led to Jordan Chiles being told to return her bronze medal days after the competition ended. For our first series of FAQ’s on this topic, listen to Behind The Scenes: Back from Paris with the ClusterFuggle of Bronze.
In this episode we discuss:
- Who’s at fault here (hint: it’s not the gymnasts, don’t @ them)
- What the heck happened that led to the game of bronze medal hot potato?
- Who got what score, was it changed, and why?
- Who made the decision to change Jordan Chiles score?
- Why might the line judges have thought Voinea went out of bounds?
- Why didn’t they fix the out of bounds call for Voinea?
- Why was Jordan’s score changed?
- Why didn’t they review Jordan’s entire routine?
- What happened when Romania challenged results?
- What did CAS decide and how did they screw that up?
- What did the FIG and International Olympic Committee decide, and how did they screw it up?
- What is the USOPC now arguing?
- Who won the bronze medal?
- Who has the bronze medal now?
- Do Barbosu and Jordan both have bronze medals?
- What about Voinea (who should be the outright bronze winner); has anyone acknowledged her performance in a meaningful way?
- What happens next? Spoiler: we’re watching Switzerland for the final appeal with the Federal Swiss Tribunal
PARIS HEADQUARTERS: podcasts, schedules and fantasy game
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LINKS & ARTICLES
- The Top Gymnast in France is Competing For Algeria
- The careers of Olympians like Simone Biles mirror the rise of adult gymnastics. ‘I’m never leaving.’
- The intimate relationship between gymnasts and chalk
- Emily Giamvalvo’s gymnastics data nerd stories for Washington Post
- USA Gymnastics emerged from scandal with a rebuilt sponsor roster and a chance to shine in Paris and beyond
- What Was It Like Teaching Simone Biles Her Out-of-This-World Skills? Her First Coach Aimee Boorman Explains In New Book
- Will I Lose My Gold Medal Because of My Leotard? Uncovering Elite Gymnastics’ Rules
- What Scores Get You a Medal
- How to Build The Paris Olympic Team
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RELATED EPISODES
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- Event Finals Day Three: Beam, Floor, PBars, High Bar live from Paris
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RESOURCES
- Spencer’s Clickable Code of Points
- Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
- The Highest scores, D scores and World Cup rankings at The Gymternet
- Men’s Gymnastics coverage from Kensley Neutral Deductions
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