Ever since the Paris Floor Exercise finals, Jordan Chiles has been on a ride through the wringer. Initially awarded the bronze medal, she descended to the 5th spot after the Court of Arbitration of Sports’ final ruling, while the Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu returned to the winner’s circle. A rattled Chiles reacted, “I have no words. This decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey.”

Nonetheless, the American gymnast remained grateful for the love and support that had been pouring in throughout. However, when things took an ugly turn, and the support came at the cost of possibly slandering Barbosu, gymnastics fans did not take it well. They were visibly upset when a renowned figure recently accused the Romanian gymnast of cheating. Here’s everything you need to know about the reactions.

Ana Barbosu’s win pricked a Chiles supporter?

On August 10, the CAS reinstated Ana Barbosu as the bronze winner and rejected Chiles’s appeal for exceeding the one-minute mark. Despite USA Gymnastics submitting time-stamped evidence that the inquiry was made within 47 seconds, the CAS upheld that, “their rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented.” Post which, the International Olympic Committee ordered the reallocation of the medals.

More so, when Barbosu received hers in Bucharest recently, it came in after a long-drawn battle. Thus, she had a lot to express. But, her heart went out to the other two gymnasts who narrowly missed the award. One of the Inside Gymnastics Instagram posts notified her remarks after being medaled, which read, “Can’t help but think about Sabrina and Jordan right now. It’s a difficult situation for us, with so many uncertainties and overwhelming emotions. I hope everyone understands that we have not done anything wrong at the Olympics.”

It appears that Barbosu attempted to clear the air surrounding the controversy. However, when a comment from a USAG official’s family member appeared on her post, it sparked an intense backlash. Andy Memmel, owner of M&M Gymnastics and father to Chellsie Memmel, the technical lead of the U.S. National Women’s Artistic Gymnastics team, reacted to the post by writing, “Cheating is cheating #fetch.” This accusation against Barbosu seems to have landed Coach Andy in hot water.

Backing Jordan Chiles goes too far, as fans reject cheating claims against Barbosu

In a r/Gymnastics Reddit thread, gymnastics buffs assemble to present their perspective on this reaction by Coach Andy. Appalled by the comment, one of the fans wrote, “What a tacky comment. Ana has been classy and she isn’t a cheater at all. None of the athletes cheated at all.” Barbosu, who was initially tied with Sabrina Maneca-Voinea at 13.700, was reinstated as the bronze winner by CAS. Previously too, she had sent her wishes for the other two gymnasts in the controversy. She had mentioned that her thoughts are with them and that she is confident they would come back stronger.

Another fan called out Memmel by remarking, “This is such an unprofessional and unnecessary comment to make towards Ana. I think he’s forgetting that she may have had very little to do with any of the actions that led to this cluster f**k. Directing anger toward her and accusing HER of cheating (unless he has some information he shouldn’t have at this stage) is unfair.” While Maneca-Voinea had held her stand about her foot being within the mat during the finals and was very vocal about her stance, Barbosu had been relatively silent.

If anything, Barbosu had even mentioned in one of her Instagram stories that the athletes involved are not to be blamed. Also, the hate directed towards them all is very painful. A fan vouched for this stance, “As I feared, always the gymnasts are the one to blame. And it’s the same for Jordan, many people still call her cheater (and other horrible things). It’s a never-ending story.” While the decision comes from the authorities, the athletes have been on the receiving end. Even Jordan Chiles was being subjected to racial remarks earlier. And this is something that the fans deeply resent.

Given that Andy Memmel is the father of a respected USAG member and a former world all-around champion, the cheating allegation seemed even more surprising. To this end, a fan wrote, “I was very surprised to see this. It seems extremely aggressive, especially in light of the content of Ana’s quote. I know Andy Memmel is a private individual, but since he has a prominent US following among gymnastics fans, and is the father of one of the most powerful USAG officials, I would have expected more discretion.”

But there are a few who assumed good intentions behind this. One of them wrote, “It’s not on Ana’s post, to be fair. It’s a reply to a news article.” The fan opines that the reaction did not seem like a personal attack against the gymnast. While another one felt that, “He might have seen the video of the inquiry everyone is talking about. People who have seen it say it clearly was completed within 60 seconds. If that’s the case, then Romania did cheat by lying.” What do you think of it? Let us know below.