The Jordan Chiles-FIG controversy has opened up a can of worms for the international gymnastics apex body. While the USA continues its fight to keep the UCLA star’s Olympic bronze in the country, Dutch gymnast Lieke Wevers has now come forward with how the FIG can sometimes negatively impact athletes without explanation and cause irreversible damage to their professional dreams.

During an episode of Blind Landing Podcast, uploaded on Spotify on August 26, Wevers revealed the scenes that unfolded during the women’s gymnastics qualification rounds. “I reached out to Leika because I saw something that she posted on social media recently, a story about her experience competing at the Paris Olympics that seemed to raise some important questions about the FIG,” said the host of the podcast before handing over the mic to the gymnastics star.

“My right foot, my heel was just over the line and the left one definitely not. So yeah, I was given a 0.3 instead of 0.1, and if I didn’t get that, then I would’ve made the all round final,” stated Lieke.  The speculation got stronger only after Wevers ruled out the other factors that could have resulted in the point deduction. “Neutral deductions are a distinct category of reasons that you can lose points. That mostly includes a handful of rare things like not wearing your athlete bib number or not having your country’s flag on your leotard. Lika could rule out those immediately,” elaborated the podcast further.

She also said that it couldn’t have been the background music, since she composed the tunes for her routine herself and made sure to abide by the FIG regulations on the matter. Without any explanation from the judges, Lieke visited Paris to get in touch with some officials to get an idea of the things that transpired during the qualifications. “I actually got the confirmation quite quickly that, they were wrong,” Lieke stated after she managed to get in touch with Donatella Sacchi, another high-ranking FIG official.

Lieke’s comments and experience only bolster Chiles’ case and prove that the FIG can, in fact, make mistakes. However, one crucial difference in the cases between Jordan and Wevers sets their situations very apart. “They were very sorry and they were very understanding,” the Dutch acknowledged that the FIG officials were stand-up people when she brought their attention to the mistake that was made while scoring her routine. But despite the lack of sympathy from the authorities, Chiles is looking to put the entire fiasco behind her.

Jordan Chiles sets her gaze ahead

Following the CAS’ ruling, Chiles went into a social media blackout. On the other hand, her family members, most notably Jordan’s mom Gina, and sister Jazmin, went online to slam the public uproar that accused the Washington native of cheating during the women’s Floor Exercise final in the City of Love. On top of the troubles, the family also alleged that Jordan was being subjected to unnecessary racial attacks that were totally uncalled for. However, Simone Biles’ teammate soon returned to social media platforms to wash her hands of the drama with thoughts underscoring her determination to bounce back from the ordeal. “Maturing is realizing you prefer a quiet life. You don’t chase after friendships or relationships, you’re happy with the few friends you have, no drama, just working on being the best version of yourself, not comparing your life to others, and learning to enjoy your own company instead of relying on others to be happy,” said Chiles on Instagram on August 19.

However, the support in the country for Jordan has remained unwavering. From rapper Flavor Flav gifting her diamond-studded bronze clock necklace to Democrat representative Stephen Cohen personally writing a letter to the CAS to reconsider Chiles’ case: the believers have stood strong in the gymnast’s corner. But how will everything ultimately pan out? What do you think? Tell us!