The highest-profile dispute in the sport since the greatest scandal in Olympic gymnastics history occurred in Sydney in 2000 is the International Olympic Committee’s decision to deprive American gymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal in floor exercise.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, determined that Chiles’ coach’s scoring appeal was submitted four seconds too late, and the IOC determined on Sunday that the United States’ scoring investigation was unlawful. Ana Bărbosu, 18, of Romania was declared the bronze medallist in the floor exercise retroactively.
The only gymnast in history to have their Olympic medal revoked for a cause other than lying about their age or testing positive for drugs is Chiles. Some of Sydney’s issues were not local.
Documents reveal that Hamid Gharavi presided over the panel that made the decision in the Chiles case, and his company’s website states that he has represented Romania in prior disputes. These facts raise doubts about the judgment that promoted a Romanian athlete.
On Tuesday, Gharavi declared that he was not permitted to remark on the Chiles case or any other case. In response to NBC News’ request for comment, the Court of Arbitration for Sport informed The New York Times that Gharavi had revealed his work with Romania and that no one had challenged his appointment as chair, thus the court saw no need to remove him.
The vaulting table was misaligned in height during the women’s all-around final at the 2000 Sydney Games, endangering the safety of the top gymnasts in the world and casting doubt on the accuracy of the competition’s results.
The table was lowered by almost two inches more than was necessary. Seventeen Russian gymnasts, including gold medal favorite Svetlana Khorkina, smashed their vaults before stadium officials used tape measures to find the mistake.
ESPN was informed at the time by Kathy Kelly, the U.S. women’s program coordinator, that she had never witnessed something like, not even at a small local meet. “That’s what it is; it’s bizarre.”
Although Khorkina was granted another chance, the harm had already been done to all the competitors who vaulted on the wrong setting.
Khorkina fell again on her second event, the uneven bars, following a terrible vault that left her on her knees. She refused to perform her vault again after the equipment fault was discovered.
Eventually, some gymnasts in Sydney had their medals revoked for non-related reasons to the equipment malfunction.
Less than a week after she tested positive for a prohibited substance, Romanian gymnast Andreea Răducan, who had won the gold medal for all-around, was disqualified. On the day of the final, Răducan, who was 16 at the time, was discovered to have accidentally consumed pseudoephedrine, an illegal stimulant, in the guise of cold medicine given to her by the team doctor.
The all-around champion was then given to her teammate Simona Amânar, who had already won silver. Both the gold medal she had won in the team competition earlier in the Games and the medal she had won in the individual vault three days later were kept by Răducan.
In an effort to reclaim the gold, Răducan visited with IOC President Thomas Bach fifteen years after her positive test. Bach expressed his sympathy to her even if her request was turned down.
In a press release, Bach stated, “Andreea found this decision to be extremely difficult, and the IOC did not make it lightly at the time.” “The requirement to apply the principle of strict liability of the athlete demonstrates how stringent our anti-doping regulations are.”
He went on, “On the other side, I have a lot of sympathy for her because her team doctor made a mistake that has caused her to suffer. Even more so given that you had complete faith in your medical team as an athlete at the age of sixteen when this incident occurred.
The only other case of an Olympic gymnastics medal being retroactively stripped happened at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, although it wasn’t discovered until ten years later, unlike Chiles.
When it was discovered that one of the Chinese team’s gymnasts, Dong Fangxiao, was too young to compete, the team lost its bronze medal.
Olympic gymnasts have to be 16 at the Games or turn 16 in that same year to compete.
When Dong attempted to register for the 2008 Beijing Games using a false birth year, it became apparent that she was lying about her age.
After the Chinese women’s gymnastics team was disqualified in 2010, the United States women’s gymnastics team, who had placed fourth in 2000, was given the bronze medal.
USA Gymnastics announced on Sunday that it has filed an appeal of the CAS verdict in Chiles’ case. The appeal included video evidence and a letter proving that Chiles’ score inquiry was made inside the allotted one-minute period.
But the road to an appeal was muddled by CAS’s reaction on Monday.
USA Gymnastics released a statement saying, “On Monday, USA Gymnastics received notification from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that an arbitral ruling cannot be reexamined under their procedures, even in the event that compelling new information is brought to light.” “We take great disappointment in the notification, and we will keep trying every path and appealing to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, among other channels, to make sure Jordan receives the proper ranking, placement, and medal.”
There is precedent set by CAS and the IOC for repeated Olympic medal awards in cases where athlete error occurs.
Following a protracted review process and subsequent controversy, Fanny Smith of Switzerland and Daniela Maier of Germany were each given bronze medals in ski cross at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
A statement released on Sunday stated that “athletes are not to be blamed” for the dispute, and Bărbosu is scheduled to receive her medal on Friday.
Following the CAS verdict on Saturday, Chiles withdrew from social media, citing a need to safeguard her mental health. She hasn’t disclosed any intentions to give up her medal.