01/29/26 11:31:00
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01/29 11:30 CST Olympic gymnastics medal dispute between US and Romania in
Paris goes back to Swiss court
Olympic gymnastics medal dispute between US and Romania in Paris goes back to
Swiss court
By GRAHAM DUNBAR and WILL GRAVES
AP Sports Writers
GENEVA (AP) --- A gymnastics medal disputed by the United States and Romania at
the 2024 Paris Olympics is heading for a fresh legal review in a Swiss court.
Switzerland's supreme court said on Thursday its judges sent the "highly
exceptional circumstances" of the bronze medal awarded in the women's floor
exercise back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to examine new evidence.
The outcome of an event that created a celebrated Olympic photo featuring
bronze medalist Jordan Chiles and silver medalist Simone Biles rests on just a
handful of seconds: Can the U.S. team prove it made a timely appeal in the
Olympic arena on behalf of Chiles?
The federal judges' ruling suggested Chiles could regain the bronze medal she
originally got in Paris after challenging her judged score.
At the medal ceremony, teammates Chiles and Biles kneeled to acclaim gold
medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil as she stepped on the podium.
Chiles' third-place finish was overturned within days on appeal by the Romania
team to the CAS' Olympic court in Paris. The medal was awarded in Bucharest the
next week to Ana Maria Barbosu.
The federal court wants CAS to examine a recording that could show the original
U.S. challenge of the judged score was within a one-minute deadline on the
field of play.
"In the highly exceptional circumstances of the case in question," the Swiss
Federal Tribunal said in a statement, "it considers that there is a likelihood
for the audio-visual recording of the final on Aug. 5, 2024 to lead to a
modification of the contested award in favor of the applicant (Chiles)."
The CAS said in a statement on Thursday it "can now ensure a thorough judicial
review of the new evidence that has since been made available."
The court based in Lausanne, across the Olympics' home city from the supreme
court, gave no timetable for the review. It likely will take at least one year
to prepare and process before a verdict is ready.
Chiles, now 24, has pressed forward with her life after dealing with
significant online backlash --- some of it racially tinged --- in the immediate
aftermath.
She returned to compete collegiately at UCLA while also leaning into her
burgeoning celebrity, participating on the reality competition "Dancing With
the Stars," posing for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and is currently
featured in a commercial for a female athleisure apparel line that also
includes tennis icon Serena Williams and track star Sha'Carri Richardson.
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Graves reported from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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AP Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
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