[Paris Olympics] Romania Recovers Gymnastics Floor Bronze Medal After Protest

Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu [Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

Romania has regained the bronze medal in the women's artistic gymnastics floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled on the 11th (Korean time) to accept Romania's appeal and ordered the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to restore the final rankings to the original decision.

In the ruling, CAS explained, "According to FIG's regulation 8.5, appeals against judges' decisions must be made within one minute after the decision," adding, "The United States filed the appeal after one minute had passed, so it is invalid." FIG immediately announced on its website, "Jordan Chiles' (USA) score has been restored to 13.666," and "The final rankings have also been adjusted, awarding the bronze medal to Romania's Ana B?rbosu."

The controversy over the judgment occurred during the women's floor exercise final at the Paris Olympics held on the 5th at the Accor Arena in Paris, France. Romania's Ana B?rbosu secured the bronze medal with a difficulty score of 5.8, an execution score of 8.000, and a deduction of 0.1, totaling 13.700 points. However, the U.S. team protested, claiming that Jordan Chiles' difficulty score needed adjustment, and the judges accepted this, complicating the situation. Chiles' score was raised to 13.766, moving her from 5th to 3rd place, while B?rbosu, originally 3rd, was pushed down to 4th.

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation filed an appeal with CAS, emphasizing technical flaws in the U.S. appeal process. CAS sided with Romania's clear argument, and Romania regained the bronze medal after six days.