After all the heartbreak, tears, and hard work that felt wasted at the Paris Olympics, Jordan Chiles is back at UCLA. She aims to prove she deserves the bronze medal that was stripped from her. In Paris, she was a key player in Team USA’s victory, helping them claim the top spot on the podium and earning her first Olympic gold. She even took a bronze on floor exercise- a moment that should’ve been the perfect ending. But, as we all know, things didn’t exactly go as planned.

The drama started soon after the Games wrapped up. That bronze medal? The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) stripped it away in favor of Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu.The reason? The appeal Chiles filed came just a few seconds past the deadline. To say this didn’t sit well with her would be an understatement. The ruling sparked a legal battle, with Chiles refusing to back down. Fast forward to now, and Chiles is back in the fight, this time in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. She’s not just letting it slide. As fans have been saying, “She’s fighting for what she deserves.”

Since that ruling in September 2024, Jordan Chiles has been tirelessly challenging the decision. She’s not giving up on getting her medal back, filing two additional briefs with the Swiss court as reported on January 27, 2025, by  Ciar Global. The main issue? The fairness of the arbitration process. Chiles’ legal team claims that the tribunal showed bias. That is due to the involvement of Hamid G. Gharavi, the arbitrator central to the decision. According to Chiles’ defense, Gharavi’s ties to Romania raised serious concerns about impartiality.

So, Gharavi’s connection to Romania goes back to at least 2011, when he first got involved in representing Romania in legal matters. He has since been deeply involved in numerous historical cases involving Romania starting from his role as their counsel at international arbitration proceedings.

The legal defense team working for Chiles has decided to maintain this lawsuit. Gharavi faces increasing scrutiny for his numerous cases in representing Romania since advocacy experts question his appropriate involvement. It’s “revealing that the defendants have information not accessible to the public about Gharavi’s activities, income, and assets when it is precisely they who want to assert Gharavi’s total independence,” her legal team says.

The investigation led by Jordan Chiles’ team discovered that USA Gymnastics’ counsel never received Dr. Gharavi’s acceptance and independence form. A substantial disclosure within the other side’s argument presents an opportunity that could completely transform Chiles’ case. The attorneys defending Jordan Chiles remain committed to their initiative. The legal team is fighting for reassessment because they believe any other decision would fundamentally transform our understanding of impartiality requirements in arbitration deals.

As they argue, “any other conclusion would lead to absurd changes in the generally accepted criteria for assessing the impartiality and independence of an arbitrator.” Chiles maintains a determined battle for fairness while showing clearly that she refuses to withdraw from her pursuit. This battle is far from over. At the same time, she’s proving her worth in her NCAA games.

Jordan Chiles’ gymnastics skills prove she’s worth any Olympic medal

At UCLA’s home opener, Jordan Chiles achieved 9.950 points for floor exercise. This led her and UCLA to their highest team score of 49.500 in their first competition. The same passion that propelled her to the Olympics is also reflected in her college career. 

Even a few days back, seeing Chiles’s performance coach, Janelle McDonald even patted, “She’s [Jordan Chiles] only been back with us for a few weeks, but she has this ability to just elevate the room around her. She brings this energy and this passion to the table each and every day that inspires the people around her. And it’s really cool this year seeing that she’s taken all the experiences that she’s had and brought it in as a leadership role.”

During UCLA’s meet on January 20 against Maryland, Jordan Chiles recorded a perfect 10 on bars. In the process, she became the second gymnast in 2025 to earn an ideal routine score. This perfect score served as the foundation for UCLA’s winning score of 197.625 in the meet. This again goes on to show just how important she is for the Bruins.

But at the same time, her fight to regain her bronze Olympic medal continues. But Chiles is not letting it weigh her down. And if her recent performances are any indications, she has set her sights on the NCAA title.