After the NCAA season opener, the drama was real but Jordan Chiles wasted no time shutting it down with her performance and a sharp statement to clear the air. Back from the Olympics and once again wearing the UCLA blue and gold, Chiles made her return known during the Bruins’ season opener on January 4 at the American Gold Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Classic in Oceanside, California. The meet was practically a Pac-12 reunion, with UCLA facing off against Cal and Oregon State. Sure, the Bruins finished last with a 195.250 behind No. 4 Cal and No. 19 Oregon State, but let’s not forget, it’s just the start.

Chiles was the headliner, anchoring on vault with a 10.0 start value routine: a Yurchenko half with a front tuck half. The result? A team-high 9.900 that left no doubt about her star power. Gymnastics is a team sport, but Chiles? She’s the spark every team dreams of. Still, UCLA is far from a one-woman show. Freshmen Macy McGowan and Mika Webster-Longin stepped up big time, scoring right alongside veteran Frida Esparza on bars, while Sydney Barros made a triumphant NCAA debut after a long recovery from a torn ACL. But as always, gymnastics chatter doesn’t stop at the scores.

Post-meet, a Suni Lee fan on X, @Sunisezhova, stirred the pot with a sarcastic dig at Jordan Chiles. The fan shared a picture of her vault and threw unnecessary shade, even though the move was almost flawless. But it didn’t stop there! Another fan, Yuyuan’s Amanar, chimed in with, “Ntm as a Suni fan,” adding fuel to the fire. But Chiles?

Oh, the 23-year-old wasn’t having it. She clapped back with a sarcastic reply: “So what was the point of this…? The entertainment lol.” But the criticism didn’t stop there. Chiles, later on the 6th of January, took to X herself, posting, “Twitter can’t take sarcasm for anything y’all really think a photo gonna make me mad 😂 then y’all really don’t know who I am.” But then another user namely Stream 2 hands commented on it, “You can’t handle even a tiny bit of valid criticism, this wasn’t even hateful you’re just super sensitive.”

But Chiles didn’t waste any time and commented back, saying, “you are right I can’t take a tiny bit of criticism I can take a lot it’s called a joke that’s why there is an emoji. You think if I was really mad I would tweet about it no, so you don’t understand my sarcasm….” Classic Olympian energy: calm, collected, and completely unbothered. And it’s obvious after handling the Olympic bronze medal controversy, it’s clear that petty online jabs barely faze her.

The drama behind Jordan Chiles’ Bronze medal

On August 10, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Jordan Chiles might lose her Olympic bronze medal in the floor exercise final. Chiles originally scored 13.666, but her coach, Cecile Landi, filed an inquiry that added 0.1 to her score, earning her the medal. This bumped Romania’s Ana Barbosu to fourth and Sabrina Voinea to fifth. However, CAS later claimed the inquiry was submitted four seconds late, voided the score change, and restored the original lineup. The IOC asked Chiles to return the medal so it could be reallocated to Barbosu.

Chiles has called the decision unfair and stated that she has proof the inquiry was submitted on time. Meanwhile, Barbosu expressed her frustration but said the athletes are not to blame for the situation. With support from Team USA, Chiles refuses to return the medal and is challenging the CAS ruling in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Only time will tell how this unfolds, but for now, Chiles is focused on the upcoming NCAA season.

For UCLA, this meet was just a warm-up. If the opener was any indication, the Bruins and Chiles are set for a season that’s worth watching. UCLA’s next challenge is the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad on January 11.