More than a month after the Paris Olympics, a new controversy featuring Simone Biles' floor routine performance at the Games emerged. The women's individual floor routine competition was already mired in debate involving Jordan Chiles and the bronze medal.
Chiles was promoted from fifth place to third in the floor routine after her coach Cecile Landi issued an inquiry. She was assigned 13.766 points, placing her ahead of Romania's Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea in third place.
However, after Romania's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, stating that the American had issued the inquiry after the stipulated time, Chiles was stripped of her bronze medal. While her fight for the bronze medal still continues, her attorney filed an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal on Monday, including video evidence of Landi inquiring.
The video also shows Landi's attempt to inquire about Biles' score, noting the legendary gymnast was not awarded points for her split leap, likely costing her another Olympic gold medal. Biles shared the video and stated that she was concerned about her scores, acknowledging Rebeca Andrade's performance. However, the seven-time Olympic gold medalist backed her teammate.
"Honestly not a big deal for me, Rebeca had a better floor anyways," Biles wrote. "Upsetting how it wasn’t processed but I’m not mad at the results."
She added:
"BUT JUSTICE FOR JORDAN. Ya hear me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"I’ll be ready for my appointments" - Simone Biles on post-Olympics depression experienced by athletes
Currently committed to the Gold Over America Tour, Simone Biles recently opened up on handling the post-Olympic blues.
She addressed the pensive phase often experienced by elite athletes after the conclusion of a large-scale sporting event. However, speaking to Vogue in an interview, the 27-year-old gymnast emphasized her therapy sessions, stating their importance in pulling her out of a downward spiral
“A lot of athletes, unfortunately, since this is the biggest stage of their life–there’s this thing called post-Olympic Depression," she said.
"For me, I’ll still be attending my therapy sessions, because I know how important that is for me to be mentally and physically well. So I’ll be ready for my appointments, back to regularly scheduled programming."
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Biles collected four medals, including three gold medals in the team, individual all-around, and vault, and a silver medal in floor exercise.