Jordan Chiles Files Appeal Over "Unfair" Bronze Medal Olympic Ruling
She's not giving up.
Jordan Chiles is still fighting for her bronze medal.
Just over a month after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Chiles' medal in the women's gymnastics floor final in the Paris Olympics would be stripped, the Team USA athlete and her lawyers have filed an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland to overturn the decision.
A press release for the appeal states that CAS went against Chiles' "right to be heard" when it declined to consider video evidence submitted by USA Gymnastics that they claim ultimately proved Chiles deserved to come in third place in the competition.
The press release also alleges that the President of the CAS panel that ruled against Chiles and in favor of the Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, Hamid G. Gharavi, "had a serious conflict of interest: Mr. Gharavi has acted as counsel for Romania for almost a decade and was actively representing Romania at the time of the CAS arbitration."
Gharavi had not responded to a request for comment from E! News at time of writing.
When reports first emerged about a potential conflict of interest last month, Gharavi told ABC News in a statement, "I am not allowed to comment on these or any other matters in relation to my role as an arbitrator in this or any other case."
The principal reason for Chiles' appeal is explained in the press release as an attempt to right "an unjust decision." The document reads, "This appeal is about much more than the bronze medal. Chiles is pursuing her case to encourage the entire Olympic community to take steps to ensure that future Olympians do not face a similar ordeal. Chiles believes in competing fairly and with integrity and holding these organizations to the standards and rules that were established to ensure fairness."
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The end goal of the appeal is for Chiles' bronze-medal score to be reinstated.
This affair has been a long and complicated journey, starting with Chiles originally placing in fifth place. She was then awarded the bronze medal after an inquiry from her coach resulted in the jury agreeing that Chiles had not deserved a specific point deduction.
However, the Romanian team argued that the coach's inquiry had been filed too late, thereby rendering it void. CAS ruled in their favor, which resulted in Chiles' medal being stripped.
Soon afterwards, USA Gymnastics shared that they had submitted evidence they claimed proved the inquiry had been made in time, but CAS declined to consider the evidence because their rules don't allow for this type of deliberation.
On Aug. 15, Chiles released a statement on Instagram explaining what a "significant blow" the situation had dealt her, and promised she would "make every effort to ensure that justice is done."
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Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.
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