Gymnastics at the Paris Olympics 2024, was perhaps one of the most thrilling competitions. But unfortunately not all of them smoothly. The floor exercise final started with all the hurrays and ended in a controversy that still has fans buzzing. The world saw Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade take the golden spot on the podium pushing the legendary Simone Biles to Silver. But the Bronze is where the international debate so rather debacle started!

It began with Jordan Chiles challenging her score at the finals! Before Chiles challenged her score, the medal appeared to be going to Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu. In the blink of an eye, the results turned into a dramatic saga! The world was as confused as Ana, wondering what exactly happened.

The Ana vs Chiles floor routine saga continues

Wondering how Chiles ended up claiming the bronze? Let’s start at the very beginning of the saga when the scores came out and it said Ana had won the bronze medal. However, the win was short-lived. Chiles who had finished in the fifth position contested the difficulty score given to her routine. And thus, began the debate. Cecile Landi, Chiles’ coach argued that she deserved a higher score than the given 5.8.

The story doesn’t end there, the plot of the controversy further thickens! Romanian team challenged Chiles’ appeal on the grounds of late submission. They pointed out that Chiles’ appeal took 1 minute and 24 seconds, exceeding the allotted time by 24 seconds. Omega was Chiles’ rescue. Omega is the timekeeping system used to record precise timings for every action during the event. The Omega records showed that the appeal was just within the allowable time limit. This led to a huge change on the podium. Ana was no longer on it, and Chiles’ score post-adjustment put her in third place. The decision hinged on adherence to the rules and regulations. A small mishap here could have big repercussions, and the fandom caught on to the same rather quickly.

Fans weighing in heavily on the medal drama

The medal fiasco left the gymnastics community and fans buzzing. The floor event started its series online, with all kinds of comments and reactions kicking in. Many wondered why the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not share the medal 3-way. One fan couldn’t hold back, exclaiming, “ ICO was against it because they thought it would devalue Olympic medals…” To which another commenter shot back, “Giving a bronze medal to the person who didn’t do the third-best routine devalues it more lmao smdh.” Classic internet clapback, right?

The Romanian fanbase was no spectator either! A fan on Reddit commented, “It’s insane seeing the comments from crazy Romania fans saying she ‘stole’ the medal, then when Jordan ACTUALLY GOT STRIPPED they were like ‘Oh well rules are rules, cry about it stupid Yanks.’”  Talk about rollercoaster of reactions! The reactions did not stop at the medal politics, the technological discrepancies also had their place in the debate.

One of the eagle-eyed fans pointed out that “World Championships use a different timekeeping technology provided by Longines, which closes the option for inquiries automatically after the time ran out. If this was in use here, none of this would’ve happened.” Another user pointed out that, this was a mishap from the IOC. “Because the IOC wants a one-size-fits-all solution and awarded the contract (once again) to Omega. With that decision, the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) was not free to use their own system, because at the Olympics, they are only the IOC’s subcontractor for gymnastics competition,” read the comment.

But the reactions took a turn when the attacks turned personal. A Reddit user pointed out the collective frustration and said, “Does anyone else’s brain just hurt from the fact that Jordan and Ana have experienced so much hate and turmoil because basic practices can’t be followed? I only hope that remedies are made before LA.” Could this have been avoided with a standardized system? Well, the answer remains ever so ambiguous. However, as the debate continues, The Court of Arbitration for Sport seems to have reached a decision.

On August 10, 2024, they ruled that Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise score at the Paris 2024 Olympics was invalid and decided that the bronze will go to  Ana Barbosu. But Chiles doesn’t intend to go quietly into the night. USA has filed a counter-appeal and submitted video evidence. The video proves that the team filed the initial appeal on time. As the saga continues to unfold, fans are on the edge of their seats awaiting the final decision.