Gymnast Jordan Chiles says she was racially abused online after losing her Paris Olympic bronze medal in controversial fashion.
“I am overwhelmed by the love I have received over the past few days,” Chiles said as she began her statement on the social media site X.
“While celebrating my Olympic achievements, I received the devastating news that my bronze medal had been stripped away. I had full confidence in the appeal filed by USAG, which provided solid evidence that my results complied with all rules. This appeal was unsuccessful. .
Chiles then turned her attention to what she said were attacks on social media.
“Even more heartbreaking is the fact that unprovoked racially motivated attacks on social media are wrong and extremely harmful. I have put my heart and soul into this sport and I am proud to represent my culture and My country,” she said.
“I will never waver in my values of competing with integrity, striving for excellence, upholding sportsmanship values and fair rules. I take pride in cheering for everyone, regardless of team or country. Finding joy again has become a cultural shift and I love that Seeing other people embrace it makes me feel like I’ve given everyone permission to be their authentic selves.
Chiles won a bronze medal in the women’s floor exercise in Paris when her coach challenged the judges, questioning the original score and her score was changed from 13.666 to 13.766.
Chiles moved into third place ahead of Romania’s Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Vonea.
Romania took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), saying the U.S. investigation did not proceed within the one-minute time limit stipulated in the rules. Romania argued that the U.S. team fell behind the four-second time limit.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of Romania and ordered that Chile’s bronze medal be reassigned to Babosu, who was tied with her compatriots on 13.7 points but performed better.
USA Gymnastics (USAG) later said there was video evidence that coach Cecil Landy filed the appeal 47 seconds after Chiles’ preliminary score was announced, well within the time limit, but CAS said it would not reopen the case.
USAG plans to appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.
Laura Woods receives death threats for commenting on article about boxing at Paris Olympics
Meanwhile, TV presenter Laura Woods has revealed she took to social media after commenting on an article about the qualifications of Olympic champion boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yuting Received “numerous death threats against myself and my unborn child” as well as other insulting messages.
Khalif and Lim each won boxing gold amid global outrage over their eligibility to compete in the women’s division after a flood of criticism and uninformed speculation about their gender on social media.
