“I have no words,” wrote American gymnast Jordan Chiles on Instagram after she was about to lose her bronze medal. The 2024 Olympic bronze medal drama has erupted, with Jordan Chiles refusing to return her medal. As The Blast reported, after her coach, Cecile Landi, made a last-ditch appeal that added 0.100 to her floor routine score, Chiles found herself in third place and Ana Barbosu of Romania below the podium. But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) later ruled that Team USA’s appeal was four seconds over the one-minute deadline.

Then, the IOC quickly agreed to it and asked Jordan to strip off her medal to give it to new bronze medalist Ana Barbosa. While Chile’s medal achievement was noteworthy, Barbara’s win brought her unexpected benefits that cannot be compared to Chiles. Not only did she make a lot of money, but she also owned other materialistic things. However, the new decision by the Court gave a positive judgment that kind of favored Jordan.

Romanian Ana Barbosu’s earnings have surpassed Jordan’s gain in many ways 

The recent post on X by GyMeme, has a caption that reads, “Olympic Bronze- 60k€ prize win- 50k€ car, eletric because is eco friendly. Needs a car license tho- The person who assaulted you at worlds was removed from the FIG competitions and had to announce you as an Olympic Medalist- New manicure. Are you a Bărbs ?! 🇹🇩🥉”  So, clearly, in terms of earnings, Ana Barbosa has surpassed American gymnast Jordan Chiles. It is because America has announced to give $15,000 only while Barbosu has earned $121,000. Not only that, but besides the prize money, she has also earned a car and a new manicure.

For Team USA, Jordan Chiles has made a success of it, but the rewards have been more modest financially. While USA Gymnastics has given Chiles some support, such as the prize money, the rewards for individual performance have not yet matched Barbuso’s recent windfall. Chiles has her own endorsements and sponsorships, but they are not at the level Barbuso recently hit. Recently, GyMeme, through her X handle, posted a photo of Ana posing with her new car, captioning it “Ana Bărbosu with her new car 🇹🇩🥉” where many fans appreciated her for the achievement. More than 11,000 athletes participated in this Summer Olympics; among them, the American delegation alone included 223 members. It is an elite and unique group.

But for many Olympians, like Jordan Chiles, who have put all their hard work into training and preparation, the payoff from the government is what makes all their efforts worthwhile. However, as we all know, only competing at the Olympics never gets anyone any prize money or tokens of gifts. So, many Olympic athletes have to rely on rewards, but it is saddening when they get a big paycheck. Reflecting on it, Team USA Spokesperson Mark Jones told NBC, “The money is allocated based on performance, or “likelihood that an athlete will win a medal.” Now, the question is, how can other countries like Romania and others give their athletes this much recognition through significant prize money and other gifts?

Ana Barbosu speaks out after the Paris showdown with Jordan Chiles after the medal controversy 

Ana Barbosu of Romania received her Olympic bronze medal on Friday during a ceremony in the capital, Bucharest. It followed a whirl of confusion after the medal was initially presented to American gymnast Jordan Chiles, only to be withdrawn. Later on that point, Ana said after the ceremony in her home country, “I did not expect the medal to be so heavy, but I would wear it day and night if this is what it takes to have it.” After last week’s ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport to nullify the appeal made by Team USA coach Cecile Landi during the floor exercise final on August 5 in Paris that elevated Chiles to third place at the expense of Barbosu, the court ruled that Cecile Landi was four seconds late in making her appeal within the allocated time. 

The decision was supported by the International Gymnastics Federation. U.S. Olympic officials said they would appeal but later said that the Court of Arbitration for Sport informed them the decision could not be reconsidered, despite what USA Gymnastics called “conclusive new evidence” that it said showed Landi making her appeal in time. Chiles has been ordered to return her medal. Then, after receiving the medal, Ana even said in her home country, “I am very happy to have this medal and hope to represent Romania at the highest level and bring home more medals.” Even though Romania’s dominance in gymnastics has long been gone, this year, Barbosu’s win brought Romania’s first Olympic medal in gymnastics since the 2012 London Games.