Jordan Chiles had her family by her side as she took to the mat at the Paris Olympics. It was only fitting. Her family had been the reason why Chiles took up gymnastics in the first place. Having struggled with ADHD while growing up, her parents got her into sports and she started off by playing T-Ball. But they often saw Chiles doing cartwheels and realized that her talents lie elsewhere. Her father, Timothy Chiles, signed her up for gymnastics classes after he had spent a week alone with her while Gina, her mother, was on a business trip. The young Chiles was a ball of energy, up from morning until bedtime, jumping off the furniture and bouncing off walls, and at the age of 7, Timothy drove a blindfolded Chiles to a local gym. Since then, her parents have been two constant pillars of support as evidenced by the fallout of the bronze medal controversy in Paris.

Chiles initially finished fifth in the floor exercise final at the Paris Olympics. But after an appeal from her coach Cecile Landi, she was placed on the podium winning the bronze medal. The aftermath of this outcome turned sour for Chiles as she was subjected to vile abuse online. But Gina hit out at those coming after her daughter and stood firm in her support. “The racist disgusting comments are still happening in 2024,” Gina wrote on X last year. “I’m tired of people who say it no longer exists. My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched … and she’s being called disgusting things.” As her battle for the bronze medal drags on, Chiles continues to have the unwavering backing of her family.

Over the years, Chiles has made it clear how the support of her loved ones has shaped her gymnastics journey and that continues to be the case to this day. As the two-time Olympian prepares to launch her memoir on Tuesday, she has received words of encouragement and admiration from a close one.

On February 27 Celeste D. Chiles shared a long post on Instagram revealing her admiration for her niece. In the post, she attached a snap of Jordan’s book, ‘I’m That Girl: Living the Power of My Dreams’, and wrote, “Jordan Chiles thank you for sharing your story with the world! Thank you for being transparent and yet again making yourself vulnerable to scrutiny. I celebrate you and all of your hard work! 

Thank you for following the lead of the greats that came before you and thank you for creating a new and even greater path for those to come! You have not only revolutionized the culture of Women’s Gymnastics but you have also made a great contribution to how the world views a Black woman! For this, I am eternally grateful! I love you so much and I am so proud of you!  “

Coming from a biracial family in Vancouver, Washington, and making a name on the gymnastics mat hasn’t been an easy journey. But Jordan Chiles persevered. Yes, she had the backing and constant support of her family and loved ones, but there were also those who planted the seeds of doubt in her mind when she started on her gymnastics journey. In an interview with The Cut on February 28, she said,

“A lot of people told me I wasn’t going to become an Olympian. A lot of people told me I was the underdog. I’ve had friendships where people didn’t like the way I was living because they weren’t living like that. I’ve had to navigate friendships with people who didn’t believe in me and prove them wrong.” Chiles, indeed did prove them wrong.

According to available data, in 2022–23, the percentage of Black women constituted 8% of the total NCAA women gymnasts. In that 8%, Jordan was someone who had unprecedented success in the UCLA Bruins’ jersey. Not only in 2023 but in 2025 also, she has been showing why she is one of the best female gymnasts of this era.

Chiles mentioned that when she first began gymnastics in 2007 at six years old in her home state of Washington, there weren’t enough girls of color in the gym to even fill an Olympic podium. From 1980 when Luci Collins became the first Black woman to make the U.S. women’s gymnastics team at the Olympics to the time Chiles began her journey, only two other Black women had represented Team USA in women’s gymnastics.

Jordan Chiles went about changing the narrative around the female gymnasts of color. In 2022, she became part of a historic group along with Konnor McClain and Shilese Jones — that marked the first time in the history of the U.S. Gymnastics Championship that three Black women topped the podium.

Apart from helping Team USA win gold in Paris, she also helped her country come away with a silver medal in Tokyo after stepping in for her friend Simone Biles. Add a world championship and a Pan American Games gold to go along, Chiles has shown how to overcome criticism and adversity to navigate a path to success. But it wasn’t only her gymnastics abilities that were scrutinized, Chiles’s identity faced unwanted questions and she also had to deal with a lot of bias.

In an interview with Teen Vogue in its July/August edition last year, Chiles revealed how she had to go through discrimination even as a child. “Some lady in the crowd basically was like, ‘She doesn’t deserve to be on the floor. She doesn’t even look like anybody else.’ People were racially attacking me without me even really knowing,” she said.

She also recalled being told “My mom wasn’t my mom. I’ve gotten told that I wasn’t Black.” Despite these harsh challenges, Chiles refused to budge. Not only she has gained prominence in the sport, but she is using her position to elevate others. In 2018, Chiles teamed up with Brown Girls Do Gymnastics, a nonprofit organization that aims to increase access to the sport for people of color.

Meanwhile, her mother, Gina Chiles also shared her thoughts on her daughter’s memoir. In her IG story, Jordan Chiles can be seen posing with her book while shouldered by her parents as Gina captioned it, “Proud parents.”

Last year in the Paris Olympics, Jordan Chiles saw both ends, success and failure. She helped the Team USA women’s gymnastics squad win the team gold in the final. In fact, her 3rd place victory in the women’s floor exercise event gave birth to an all-Black podium for the first time in women’s gymnastics at the Olympics. But it was quickly snatched away from her.

Chiles initially scored 13.666, which put her in fifth place in the floor exercise final at the Paris Olympics. But her coach Cecile Landi registered an appeal, arguing she had been underscored. After a review of the footage, the officials agreed that she had missed credit for a key move, and bumped her total to 13.766. It was enough to push her into the bronze medal position, but things changed shortly after.

Romania challenged the decision and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling, claiming the objection from Landi came four seconds too late. Hence, the decision was overturned and Jordan Chiles’s bronze was taken away and handed to Romania’s Ana Bărbosu. Since then, Chiles has been fighting the battle to reclaim the medal.

She has filed an appeal in the Swiss Court and recently shared an update on the proceedings at the 2025 TIME Women of the Year Gala. “I really can’t say too much about the bronze medal. I just know my attorneys are doing their best to figure everything out. I’m always going to fight and be my best self because that’s just who I am,” she told E! News.

While her battle is ongoing, Chiles has just proven her credentials one more time with the UCLA Bruins.

Jordan Chiles helps UCLA to land Big Ten title

The No. 3 UCLA Women’s Gymnastics team clinched the Big Ten regular-season championship in its debut season in the conference. They put up a score of 197.200 at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, to defeat No. 21 Nebraska (4-11, 3-6 Big Ten), No. 22 Ohio State (3-9, 2-7 Big Ten) and Rutgers (12-9, 1-8 Big Ten) in Sunday’s quad-meet.

Chiles led the way for her team, claiming wins in the all-around, on the floor, and the uneven bars. Chiles and graduate student Brooklyn Moors contributed a pair of 9.950s to help the Bruins win the title. The duo has scored 9.950 or higher on the floor in nearly every meet this season.

Chiles also has two perfect 10s to her name this season and the Big Ten title win might open the door to more accolades this season.

NCAA announcer Olivia Karas gave a hint of it in the latest episode of ON THE FLOOR with Liv & Cor. “There’s never been a specialist of the year that’s going to change this year there’s going to be a Big 10 specialist of the Year award,” she said.

With two perfect tens and four gymnastics honors this season so far, Jordan Chiles has no rival in the distance. So is another accomplishment coming her way? Well, for Celeste Chiles and many others, Jordan is already a hero, regardless of what comes next.