When Will Romania’s Ana Barbosu Receive Jordan Chiles’ Bronze Medal?

Gymnast Jordan Chiles will be handing over her bronze medal to Romania’s Ana Bărbosu later this week.

The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee announced on Tuesday, August 13, that Barbosu would be given the medal during a ceremony in Bucharest on Friday, August 16.

The accolade will be presented by Octavian Morariu, a member of the International Olympic Committee for Romania, and by Mihai Covaliu, president of the national committee, per the press release.

Amid the bronze medal debate, USA Gymnastics shared that their thoughts are with Chiles, 23.

“As we continue to celebrate the successes of Team USA Gymnasts on social media, know that we are still working full-time to pursue justice for Jordan,” the Tuesday post shared via X read.

The controversy began at the women’s floor exercise final on August 5. Barbosu, 18, was initially announced as the bronze medalist before team USA filed an inquiry about the difficulty of one of Chiles’ techniques.

Moments later, the judges agreed with the filing and Chiles’ score was moved from 13.666 to 13.766. With the ruling, Chiles bumped Barbosu out of third place and claimed the spot herself.

Team Romania later filed an inquiry into team USA’s request, noting that it was past the deadline.The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) agreed with the inquiry and Chiles’ score was altered back to 13.666 — and Barbosu went back to third place.

USA Gymnastics fired back on Sunday, August 11, declaring they had “video evidence” that Chiles should keep her bronze medal.

“USA Gymnastics on Sunday formally submitted a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, conclusively establishing that Head Coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of the score, within the 1-minute deadline required by FIG rule,” a X statement read.

The upload noted that the “time-stamped, video evidence” submitted by USA Gymnastics on Sunday showed Landi “first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was originally posted.”

Earlier that day, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shared that Chiles would be stripped of her medal. “Following the CAS decision with regard to the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Final and the amendment of the ranking by the International Gymnastics Federation, the IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu,” the statement read. “We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal.”

Hours after the upload, Barbosu broke her silence. “I know what you are feeling because I’ve been through the same. But I know you’ll come back stronger,” she wrote via her Instagram Story on Sunday, noting that her “thoughts” are with Chiles.

Upon learning of the discussion, USA Gymnastics has refused to give up. “USA Gymnastics was notified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday that their rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented,” the organization said on Monday. “We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement and medal award for Jordan.”