“His passing was very hard on me”- Jordan Chiles gets emotional while opening up about her late grandfather’s words as she recalls his struggles

Jordan Chiles recently got emotional while talking about her late grandfather, Gene Velasquez, who passed away in November 2023. The gymnast was very close to him, and his death was a tough time for her.

Chiles had a successful 2024 season, with her earning a gold medal at the team all-around event at the Paris Olympics. Following this, she was a part of the Gold Over America tour, which started in September and was executed in 30 cities in the USA. She also won awards such as Time Woman of the Year, and was one of the athletes to model for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.

Most recently, she released her memoir, 'I'm That Girl: Living the Power of My Dreams', and during this entire journey, she remembered her late grandfather. The gymnast recently opened up about his sayings and struggles during her recent interview with Forbes. Revealing her bond with him, she said that he was a strong man, and his passing was very hard for her.

" I mean, my grandpa, he went through a lot of things that we probably would have never been able to go through at his age and he was somebody that we all looked up to. Not just me, my older sister. My older sister was literally like his daughter, he loved her. It was something that we all understood and now his passing was very hard on me because my grandpa has only been to one competition in my whole career and it was something that i was very honored and happy that he at least came to one because he always told me, you know, 'I don't want to come because I feel I am bad luck," said Jordan Chiles. (15:40 onwards)

She also spoke about having his quote tattooed on her forearm, revealing how significant it is for her.

"...So, having his quote on my forearm just means where you are I have been and where I am you will be and I know that at some point of time, we will meet again."

When Jordan Chiles opened up about overcoming the loss of her Olympic bronze medal

American gymnast Jordan Chiles - Source: Getty

Along with winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Jordan Chiles also had a disappointing experience in the floor exercise, where she was stripped of her bronze medal. Initially, Chiles earned 13.766 points to earn a fifth-place position; however, her appeal helped her attain the bronze medal, increasing her score by 0.10 points.

This derailed Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu out of the podium, which led to the Romanian Gymnastics Federation filing a complaint with CAS to scratch the new score, as the appeal made by the US team was done four seconds after the deadline. Following the CAS decision, Chiles was then asked to return her bronze medal.

Following this incident, Chiles made an appearance on the Today Show, where she spoke about the same and said that she would lift herself up with something that her grandfather taught her. Opening up about his wisdom and calling him the 'toughest person', she said:

"He just tell me everything happens for a reason. 'There's reasons on why you're the person you are'. My grandpa has been in tough situations. And he's the toughest person I've ever met in a million years. And he has been able to overcome them. So how I see it in everything is I'll be able to overcome this. And I'll be able to look back and say, you know what, that was just a portion of my story. But it's the truth. And that's why I'm here today is to tell my truth," said Jordan Chiles.

Jordan Chiles is currently in the NCAA season, competing for the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team.