"For me, Sabrina Voinea already has a medal"- Nadia Comaneci requests FIG to review Romanian gymnast's floor score at Paris Olympics

Legendary gymnast Nadia Comaneci has claimed that she believes Sabrina Voinea should have been awarded the bronze medal in the gymnastics floor event. The Romanian gymnast placed 5th in the floor finals at the Paris Olympics after receiving a deduction for stepping out of the legal limit, which several people, including Comaneci, have argued wasn't the case.

The gold medal on the floor was won by Rebeca Andrade of Brazil who earned a score of 14.166. Heavy favorite Simone Biles placed second with a score of 14.133. Romania's Ana Barbosu placed third initially with 13.700, but the bronze medal was later awarded to Jordan Chiles, who saw her score improve to 13.766 following a review.

Following the medal ceremony, a clip of Sabrina Voinea, who placed fifth with a score of 13.700, surfaced online where she was spotted not getting out of the bounds of the allowed limit. Nadia Comaneci requested more footage from NBC and argued that Voinea didn't deserve the 0.1 deduction awarded to her for a mistake she didn't make.

"This floor routine needs a review.. we need to protect athletes mental health for being there for them," she said.

Speaking in an interview with Euro News, Comaneci said:

"For me, Sabrina already has a medal, no need to put it around her neck. This mistake was seen, which was not a mistake. Everyone is waiting to see what happened."

The President of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation submitted a letter of protest to get Sabrina Voinea’s score reviewed. If Voinea is found to have not made the mistake, her score would improve to 13.800, which would place her third ahead of Jordan Chiles, who won bronze with 13.766.

"I think it is the first time that a review of an exercise is requested after the Olympics in gymnastics is over," Nadia Comaneci added.

"Everything has to happen at the venue, not after. Luckily I got some video from NBC where it is clear that the walkout was not a walkout," she said.

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Nadia Comaneci expressed dismay at last-minute chaos during floor finals at the Paris Olympics

Nadia Comaneci (Source: Getty)

Jordan Chiles was the last to perform her floor exercise during the final on August 5. She was initially awarded 13.666, which meant Rebecca Andrade, Simone Biles, and Ana Barbosu had won the gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively.

While the three were celebrating, Chiles filed an inquiry for her score, and it was improved eventually to 13.766, which meant she was the actual winner of the bronze medal. Barbosu, who was already celebrating with the Romanian flag was spotted crying when she discovered that she had dropped to fourth place.

"I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them #anabarbosu," she wrote.

While Barbosu is not likely to win a medal, it's possible that Sabrina Voinea’s score could be increased after the review.