Prominent gymnasts, including Simone Biles, Suni Lee, and Aly Raisman rallied behind Jordan Chiles following the bronze-medal foul-up at the Paris Olympics 2024. Chiles was moved from fifth place to third in the floor exercise final after issuing an inquiry.
She surpassed Romnia's Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Moneca-Voinea to bag the bronze medal. The American was boosted to third place after providing 13.766 points. However, after Romania's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, Chiles may now face the prospect of sharing a medal.
With the media storm surrounding her, when Chiles decided to stay dormant from social media, fellow gymnasts, including Biles and Lee backed her.
"Sending you so much love Jordan," Biles wrote. "Keep your chin up Olympic champ! We love you!"
Lee extended her support to Chiles and stated that the judges should be held accountable.
"All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges? Completely unacceptable," Lee wrote. "This is awful and I'm gutted for Jordan. I got your back forever Jo. You have all my flowers and you will always be an Olympic champion."
Carey, who secured a gold medal with the team in Paris, stated that athletes should not suffer for mistakes not performed by them.
"Don't punish the athlete for someone else's mistake. With you all the way Jo. You are forever an Olympic champion that has so much to be proud of," Carey wrote.
Raisman referred to the occurence as unfair and cruel towards Chiles and wrote,
"Don’t have the words right now. But this is so unacceptable & heartbreaking. No athlete should ever go through this. This is unfair & cruel. Athlete fairness & athlete mental health matters. Athletes should not suffer from mistakes that are out of their control. & the bullying must stop!"
Hezly Rivera and Joscelyn Roberson, who accompanied Chiles in Paris also backed their teammate. Here are their comments:
Jordan Chiles secures her second Olympic team medal at the Paris Olympics
Jordan Chiles contributed in the American team's victory at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where they secured a silver medal in the women's team event after finishing behind ROC.
She repreated her feat at the 2024 Olympic Games, contributing in her team's victory. The USA team scored a total of 171.296 points to defeat the Brazilian and Italian squads. Chiles competed in fore events.
Jordan Chiles bagged a total of 14.400 points on vault, 14.366 points on uneven bars, 12.733 points on balance beam, and 13.966 points on floor exercise to clinch her second Olympic team medal.