Twists, turns and flips are usually left to the gymnasts Olympics Not the officials who are deciding whether one athlete gets a bronze medal or three.
On Wednesday night, the Center for Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) issued scathing comments about the floor exercise fiasco at the Paris Olympics.
CAS said the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) failed American Jordan Chiles and Romanian Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneaca-Voinea had an agreement and their hands were tied in awarding the medals.
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“If FIG had implemented such a mechanism or arrangement, a lot of problems could have been avoided,” the CAS ad hoc panel said in a release. “The panel hopes that FIG will take into account the consequences of this case in future with regard to these three exceptional athletes and other athletes and their support personnel, so that this will never happen again.”
Jordan Chiles of the United States in action at the Paris Olympics. (Reuters/Hannah Mackay)
While the Romanian Gymnastics Federation has demanded that the three gymnasts be awarded bronze medals, CAS has said that its hands are tied due to FIG rules and it cannot make that decision.
“The Panel finds that the applicants failed to demonstrate the application of the ‘fair dealing principle’ in support of the relief sought. Granting such a request, as determined by the IOC at the hearing, would require the Panel to apply principles of equity, whereas the Panel is required to apply rules of law, unless the parties agree otherwise, which in this case they have not done.”
“It remains, therefore, that the allocation of three bronze medals in this event would be impossible with the strict application of the FIG rules, except where the parties agree to this, which the FIG opposes.”
CAS said it upheld its decision. restore 13.666 of chiliand Barbosu would move into third place.
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Jordan Chiles of the United States poses for a photo with her gold and bronze medals during day three of the gymnastics finals during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games on August 5, 2024 in Paris. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
“The panel would simply point out that its function is to render a decision on the law and the evidence before it, and that the matter in this case is quite clear both as to the one minute rule and its application to the circumstances of this case,” the decision said. “The function of the panel is not to apply principles of equity, or to attribute medals, or to determine whether there should be multiple recipients of the bronze medal, as some parties have proposed.
“Had the Panel been in a position to apply equitable principles, it would certainly have awarded the bronze medals to the three gymnasts, considering their performance, good faith and the injustice and suffering they suffered, whereas in such circumstances FIG had not provided any mechanism or arrangement to apply the one-minute rule established under Article 8.5.
“If the FIG had implemented such a mechanism or system, many tragic incidents could have been avoided. The Panel hopes that the FIG will clarify the consequences of this case in the future, both for these three exceptional athletes and for other athletes and their support staff, so that this will never happen again.”
USA Gymnastics hit back at the panel in a statement. USA TodayHe expressed his disagreement with the release.
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“USA Gymnastics strongly disagrees with the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s detailed decision issued today,” the organization said. “As noted in the decision, USA Gymnastics did not learn about the case until August 9 — three days after it was filed, two days after the deadline to submit objections concerning the panelists, and less than 24 hours before the hearing. This occurred because CAS sent the case filing to the wrong email addresses.
Jordan Chiles of the United States celebrates winning the bronze medal in the floor exercise on day three of the gymnastics finals during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games on August 5, 2024 in Paris. (Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports)
“Furthermore, CAS did not send any panelist conflict of interest disclosures to USA Gymnastics, nor have we seen the disclosures to date. As stated previously, video evidence later made available to USA Gymnastics and submitted to CAS conclusively establishes that Head Coach Cecil Landi verbally questioned the panel 47 seconds after the publication of the scores, which was within the 1-minute time limit required by FIG rule.”
“We will pursue these and other matters through appeal, as we continue to seek justice for Jordan Chiles.”
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The Romanian Gymnastics Federation said it plans to award Barbosu the bronze medal.
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