Jordan Chiles has broken her silence on the bronze medal controversy and reiterated her stance that she was right and didn't deserve to be stripped of the medal. The American gymnast won a bronze medal in the women's floor exercise finals at the Paris Olympics but was stripped of it weeks later.
Chiles was the last gymnast to perform her routine during the finals and was awarded a score of 13.666, which placed her in fifth position. However, her coach Ceclie Landi filed an appeal at the last moment and the American's score was improved to 13.766, earning her a bronze medal.
She was less than a week into celebrations when Romania Gymnastics filed an appeal in the Court of Arbitration against Landi's protest, arguing that it was submitted four seconds late. While the court accepted the appeal and Chiles' was asked to return her medal, she later filed a separate case against the decision and still believes 'she's right'.
Speaking for the first time about the controversy with NBC's Hoda Kotb, Chiles expressed frustration over being asked to return the medal when she hadn't done anything wrong.
"It's hard to tell yourself everything is going to be fine when we literally didn’t do anything wrong. Everything was in the time that it needed to be. For them to come back and say it was four seconds too late when we have proof… I can only control what my truth is and I know that we were right," she said.
It was Chiles' first individual Olympic medal and was very dear to her.
"It was like a cherry on top. My redemption tour going into Paris was 'Yes.' Coming back with a gold, coming back with the understanding that I was able to go out there and be the best version of myself. With this floor medal it was like 'Wow, I never expected myself to make a floor final,'" Jordan Chiles added.
The 23-year-old got emotional but further added that she was glad to be a part of the first all-black gymnastics podium at the Olympics alongside Simone Biles and Rebecca Andrade, who won the silver and gold respectively.
Jordan Chiles opens up on competing at the 2028 L.A. Olympics
While Jordan Chiles took a break from social media after the start of the court proceedings, she has since shone on and off the mat despite the case still ongoing. The Olympic champion participated in the 32-stop Gold Over America Tour and made her first appearance at the New York Fashion Week.
After speaking about the controversy for the first time in a live interview, the 23-year-old isn't ruling out competing at the 2028 L.A. Olympics as well. Speaking in the NBC interview, she said:
"LA is in and out of my mind. I think right now, I’m just trying to take in what’s happened from Paris and just take day by day."
While gymnasts tend to retire earlier, Chiles will be 27 at the time of the L.A. Games and so also was Simone Biles during the Paris Olympics.