Why Is There Controversy Over Jordan Chiles’ Bronze Medal Win? Unpacking the Cheating Allegations

Jordan Chiles is leaving the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as a gold and bronze medalist, but the latter award has been called into contention.

The Olympic gymnast earned a team all-around gold with the rest of the U.S. team — Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera — but it was in the individual floor exercise competition that she earned her first solo medal.

After her performance, she initially earned a score that put her in fifth place. However, an inquiry from her coach led to a score change — and a spot on the podium. Chiles’ bronze finish edged out Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu to fourth place, leaving her without a medal.

Now, Romania is questioning the decision and the country’s prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, announced that he will be boycotting the closing ceremony over the “scandalous situation,” per his Facebook.

Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landi, clapped back on social media to a user who commented on her post that Chiles cheated, writing that Chiles earned her bronze fairly and there was no argument to be made otherwise.

“Jordan won this bronze medal and didn’t steal anything from anyone,” she wrote in the comment. “I simply did my job and fought for my athlete.”

So why are people alleging that Jordan Chiles cheated? Here’s everything to know about the allegations and how Chiles’ coach has defended her.

Why did Chiles’ coach submit an inquiry after her floor final?

After Chiles completed her floor routine on August 5, she received a score of 13.666, putting her in fifth place behind gold and silver medalists Rebeca Andrade and Biles, respectively, as well as Romanian gymnasts Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.

However, Landi filed an inquiry claiming that Chiles received a lower difficulty score, which is calculated based on the sum of all the skills that a gymnast has performed, than she should have. The inquiry specifically regarded a leap that involved performing a split in the air while turning 540 degrees.

Why did the judges change Chiles’ score?

Originally, the judges gave Chiles a difficulty score of 5.8 for not completing the leap. However, after Landi’s inquiry, they reevaluated and changed her score to 5.9, bringing her total to 13.766 and landing her the bronze.

“Jordan’s highest possible [score value] on floor is a 5.9 – At quals and team finals she received a 5.8 and we didn’t question it because we saw that not all elements were completed,” Landi explained in her Instagram comment. “During floor finals, we thought [it] was better and being placed 5th with nothing to lose, I sent the inquiry so I wouldn’t regret not asking.”

An inquiry is not an uncommon occurrence in gymnastics. Per the Associated Press, “inquiries are a standard part of gymnastics competitions” and “scores can be adjusted up or down based on an inquiry.”

How did the Romanian gymnast react after the score change?

For one and a half minutes, Barbosu thought she was going to be on the podium. She wrapped herself in the Romanian flag and was getting ready to run across the floor waving it proudly, as is typical of the medalists, when the score was adjusted and Chiles made the leaderboard.

While Chiles was captured breaking down in tears and pouncing on Landi in celebration, Barbosu was clearly devastated, crying into her coach.

Barbosu later posted a video of her floor finish on her Instagram Stories, writing, “Thank you to everyone who encouraged me before, during and after the competition.”

She also reshared retired Romanian gymnast Sandra Izbasa-Bianca’s Instagram Stories post in which the athlete wrote in Romanian, “I hear more vividly than ever the words that the coaches repeated to us almost daily in the training room. ‘You, as Romanians, must be more than perfect in order not to leave room for interpretations!’ And here, it proves itself once again!”

What has Chiles said about the score change?

Chiles told reporters after she medalled that she didn’t even realize her coach had put in an inquiry but was “very proud” once it came through.

“It was my first event final and my first event medal, like, this is crazy,” she said. “It’s been a very long week, whether I was out in the competition for these past weeks or days, or not. So [I’m] just proud.”

She added in an interview with Good Morning America that she was also “proud” of Barbosu.

“Ana Barbosu, she’s an amazing athlete, she’s done amazing things within her gymnastics as well,” she said. “I’m very proud of myself but very proud of her as well.”

Why is the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee filing a complaint?

The day after the competition, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee announced on Facebook that they had “sent a letter of protest to the International Gymnastics Federation… to re-evaluate the objection of Sabrina Voinea Maneca’s ground exercise.”

Former Romanian gymnast legend Nadia Comaneci called into question Maneca-Voinea’s 0.1 deduction for stepping out of bounds, writing that her heel never touched the ground on X (formerly Twitter). If wrong, her score would be higher than Chiles’, placing her in third.

“Mediating the case of the Romanian sport at the international level, her public declaration to give up practicing this sport as a result of today’s decision morally obliges the decision-makers to re-analyze, ground and communicate the final decision,” the committee wrote in the post.

They also addressed Barbosu’s loss, writing, “Ana Barbosu, who for a minute and a half was in 3rd place, was also a victim in the context of awarding grades and accepting appeals.”

Prime Minister Ciolacu claimed in his translated Facebook post that the Romanian athletes were “treated in an absolutely dishonorable manner.” He added that both athletes would be treated like medalists upon their return home.

“To withdraw a medal earned for honest work on the basis of an appeal, which neither the coaches nor the top technicians understand, is totally unacceptable!” he wrote.

What has Chiles’ coach said in her defense?

After numerous comments on social media, Landi jumped to Chiles’ defense, further explaining the situation in her comment reply. She said that she originally sent the inquiry without thinking it would be accepted, but once it was, she was thrilled.

Landi added that she did feel bad for Barbosu, but at the end of the day, the medal was Chiles’.

“Do I feel bad for the Romanian athlete? Of course I do!” she wrote. “It was so sad and heartbreaking to see but it is the sport!”

Landi said Chiles “EARNED” her bronze medal, and that she deserves “respect” for her accomplishments.