Who is at fault for the debacle at the Olympic floor final? The answer still seems elusive and several options are being thrown into the mix. And FIG President Morinari Watanabe has just added the latest element to the mix.

Amid days of controversy over the ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to strip Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal from the Olympic floor final to award it to Romania’s Ana Barbosu, FIG has been astonishingly mum over the matter. Finally breaking the silence, Watanabe stated on August 24 that it is the lack of usage of technology that brought about the sorry state of affairs. While that is indeed a futuristic approach, Jordan Chiles‘ mother Gina could not hide her disappointment that it was not put to use in the Olympics.

In FIG’s bulletin for August, President Morinari Watanabe addressed the matter. “This tragedy must never happen again. Since I became FIG president, I have been promoting the use of technology in judging,” Watanabe stated. However, isn’t too pleased by his words. She took to X to voice her disdain. “This statement is a tragedy. ChatGPT would have done you wonders here 🤦🏽‍♀️.”

The President continued, “The use of technology in sport is now taken for granted and the FIG used to be at the forefront of introducing federations. But now we are no longer a pioneer. This is because we are not able to break our own prejudices because of our traditions. We need change, we need challenges. And we the courage to move forward. It was the lack of courage to take that step forward  that led to the tragedy in Paris.”

Apparently echoing the same emotion, Gina wrote. “Way to use the devastation this caused as a pitch for new tech. Respectfully READ THE ROOM sir” But he wasn’t done just yet. Notably, although the bulletin mentioned Simone Biles and Carlos Yulo of the Philippines, Chiles or Barbosu’s name did not come while addressing the matter. Although FIG has been widely criticised for the entire fiasco, the organization has indeed taken concrete steps in the recent past to incorporate AI for better judgment, especially after Watanabe took office. Let’s take a look.

The first time FIG took AI help in gymnastics was in the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. 4 special cameras were installed in the four corners of the Sportpaleis arena to record the moves of the gymnasts as they did their routines in the Sportpaleis arena. These were set up by the Japanese technology giant Fujitsu, which has been collaborating with the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) since 2017, to create an AI gymnastics judging system.

The cameras have a sophisticated system of capturing the movement of the athletes with the installed cameras. It then makes 3D models and identifies whether the elements fall into the parameters established by the federation. It was mostly deployed to resolve the inquiry from the gymnasts or coaches or a dispute within the judging panel. The Judging Support System (JSS), as it is known as,  is like a second opinion, rather than the final judgment. The step to bring in such a system was initiated years back with a lofty goal.

Initially, there were plans to put it to full use in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. Being the home game it would have been a perfect opportunity for Watanabe, the first Japanese president of the Lausanne-based FIG, to score points. But the system could not be readied by the Olympics. It was finally doable in Antwerp. “Today is a day of liberation in sports. The day has come when all athletes, not just gymnasts, will receive fair and transparent scoring,” Watanabe said about the move just before the men’s all-around final. But the usage is not completely new.

In tennis, Hawk-Eye Live, the electronic line-calling system, is used instead of line judges at two of the majors. Its calls are considered reliable. But, that is tasked with a much simpler job, just to answer yes or, no to judge if the ball in or out. JSS is indeed used for more complicated work. On a lighter note, Watanabe and Fujitsu’s head of Fujitsu’s sports business development division Hidenori Fujiwara had stated that the idea of AI led judging started as a “joke”.

But jokes often take a cue from reality and the reality with the gymnastic is that it has been historically plagued with allegations of unfairness. And the latest controversy is not the only instance of the disastrous consequences it can bring. One example is from the 2004 Olympics.

Back then, the concepts of difficulty score and execution score were not there. Rather the gymnasts were awarded start value (now the difficulty score). South Korean gymnast Yang Tae-young was erroneously penalized with a tenth of a point, causing him to miss the gold medal in the men’s all-around event. It meant he was not eligible to receive a gold medalist’s pension from the South Korean government. Looking at all these, it seems that Gina was not wrong in her arguments. However, Gina is not the only one to scrutinize the statement. 

Cecile Landi continues to fight for Jordan Chiles

After a thrilling show of skill on August 5, it was Cecile Landi who put in the appeal that led to Jordan Chiles being bumped up to the third position on the table. While it still remains unclear if the appeal was truly lodged within the permitted one-minute window after the score is announced, the gymnast’s ‘work mom‘ wasn’t too pleased with the statement either.

She pointed out, “I’m sorry but this is isn’t a statement about the floor final…. Nothing is said regarding the athletes and what they have endured and still do! Do better @gymnastics.” She then came clear with one more tweet that is apparent indicator that much more has yet to come in the debate.

“Very disappointing statement…. And if  @gymnastics and @iocmedia think the USA is done fighting , well they are wrong! These athletes deserve better especially after everything they have done for this sport!” the coach lashed out. For context, USA Gymnastics after the ruling by CAS, USA Gymnastics noted that they have a time stamped video which shows that Landi submitted the query after 47 seconds of the result. Based on that, the apex body of the USA is poised to take the matter further.

“We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just score, placement, and medal award for Jordan,” USA Gymnastics had said about the matter. Notably, although CAS can not reconsider its ruling, it allows to approach the “Swiss Federal Tribunal to order that the case be reopen.” It remains to be seen if the saga eventually brings AI into judging to make sport fairer and cleaner. What is your take on that?