But then, in a heartbeat, the world tilted on its axis. The scoreboard flashed, and the name that lit up wasn’t Barbosu’s—it was Jordan Chiles. From fifth place to the podium, Chiles had snatched the bronze in the Olympic floor exercise final on August 5th. How did this almost cinematic twist come to pass? Enter Cecile Landi, the mastermind behind the magic—a French gymnastics coach and former artistic gymnast whose keen eye for detail changed everything.

The journey to this unexpected triumph began with Landi’s sharp instincts. Noticing a discrepancy, she questioned the judges, sparking a flurry of activity. The arena fell silent, tension thick in the air, as everyone awaited the decision. And then—boom! A crucial one-tenth-of-a-point boost in Chiles’ difficulty score catapulted her into third place, overtaking Barbosu in a stunning reversal of fortune.

Imagine Gina Chiles, Jordan’s mother, watching from the stands. The initial disappointment of seeing her daughter in fifth place had given way to a resigned acceptance, only for hope to surge anew. Gina joined EssentiallySports correspondent Shreya to share her heartfelt reaction, capturing the rollercoaster of emotions that followed.

After exiting the Bercy Arena gymnastics event, Shreya Verma, our correspondent in Paris, met Jordan Chiles’ family, including her mother, sisters, and brother, who were thrilled with Chiles’ success in winning her first individual Olympic medal. Chiles’ mother, still buzzing from the excitement, remarked, “Oh my gosh, what a crazy dramatic ending. We are out of words. We’re floating this shore.” Verma then inquired, “So you can kind of tell when she walked off?”

Gina Chiles shared her emotions withEssentiallySports, saying, “But we still thought she had, you know, she had done amazing when her score flashed up. We were, you know, just clashing and we were so proud. Like, this is not a bad thing. I mean, it’s not a bad thing at all.” Then she described the shock of seeing “enquiry” on the screen, “And then all of a sudden we saw the board go across and it said ‘inquiry.’ That took us away. If you enquire, you can go down because they look at everything, or you can go up. And so we were like, every enquire had been denied to that point. So we were like what? And then it flashed up there that it had been accepted and it increased in favor of her difficulty. So, I mean, our expectations were off the charts. My only try was to hold the case. So yeah.” This was equally shocking for Chiles too.

Chiles erupted in celebration when her final score of 13.766 surpassed Ana Barbosu’s 13.700. This triumph followed a crucial moment when her Gogean—a split leap with a 1.5-turn—was initially undervalued by the judges. Chiles later said, “I have no words, but I’m so proud of myself. Losing my voice means everything because it takes a lot for me to do that.” Despite a few shaky landings during her Beyonce-themed routine, she performed well overall. Chiles finished third, beating Romanian gymnasts Sabrina Voinea and Ana Barbosu.

However, Rebeca Andrade of Brazil won gold, and Simone Biles took silver. The podium, featuring three Black gymnasts, was historic, and Chiles and Biles honored Andrade with a respectful bow. But it was undoubtedly disheartening for Voinea and Barbosu, as both scored 13.700 on their floor routines, with Barbosu initially holding the bronze medal position due to her higher execution score. This dramatic twist mirrors Aly Raisman’s pivotal appeal at the 2012 London Olympics.

After Jordan Chiles’ performance, revisit the 2012 Olympics tiebreaker drama

In the 2012 Olympics, Aly Raisman and Aliya Mustafina both scored 59.566 in the women’s all-around gymnastics final, tying for third place. Raisman had a standout routine on her best event, the floor exercise, but the tie-breaking rules were complex. The rules stated that to break ties, the lowest score from each gymnast’s routines would be dropped.

Mustafina’s lowest score was 13.633 on the beam, which was dropped, allowing her to win the bronze medal. Raisman, despite performing better overall, did not receive a medal because of this complicated system. This situation sparked widespread questions and debates about how the tiebreaker was applied, with confusion over whether execution scores or start values should determine the winner. For more insights and exclusive interviews with your favorite athletes, visit EssentiallySports today!