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Paris Olympics: IOC says US gymnast Chiles must hand back bronze after court ruling

  • Court of Arbitration for Sport rules officials should strip Chiles of bronze after Romanian appeal

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US gymnasts Simone Biles (right), Sunisa Lee (left), Jordan Chiles (front), Jade Carey (back) and Hezly Rivera celebrate after winning the artistic gymnastics women’s team final. Photo: TNS

American gymnast Jordan Chiles will have to return her bronze medal from the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise final at the Paris Games, the International Olympic Committee announced on Sunday.

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The decision comes less than 24 hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled the IOC should strip Chiles of her Olympic bronze, following appeals submitted by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation.

Chiles’ score on the floor exercise put her in fifth place, after which Team USA coach Cecile Landi challenged the result and Chiles’ mark was pushed to a 13.766, enough for bronze.

But the Romanian Gymnastics Federation appealed the result on Monday on the basis that the inquiry was filed four seconds past the one-minute deadline by which it had to have been submitted.

The IOC said in a statement that it would reallocate the bronze to Ana Barbosu, who scored 13.700 for her floor exercise.

“Following the CAS decision with regard to the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Final and the amendment of the ranking by the International Gymnastics Federation, the IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu,” the IOC wrote in the statement.

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