Jordan Chiles' stripped bronze is biggest gymnastics controversy since Sydney Olympics disaster
The International Olympic Committee’s decision to strip U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles of her floor exercise bronze medal is the sport’s highest-profile controversy since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the site of the biggest scandal in Olympic gymnastics history.
The International Olympic Committee’s decision to strip U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles of her floor exercise bronze medal is the sport’s highest-profile controversy since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the site of the biggest scandal in Olympic gymnastics history.
The IOC found Sunday that a scoring inquiry by the U.S. was invalid, echoing a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, which found that the scoring appeal from Chiles’ coach was filed four seconds too late. Romania’s Ana Bărbosu, 18, was retroactively deemed the floor exercise bronze medalist.
Chiles is the only gymnast in history to be stripped of an Olympic medal for reasons other than age falsification or failed drug tests. Some of the problems in Sydney lay elsewhere.
Hamid Gharavi was president of the panel that decided the Chiles case, documents show, and he has represented Romania in other cases, according to his company's online bio, which could raise questions about the decision that elevated a Romanian athlete.
Gharavi said Tuesday that he is not allowed to comment on the Chiles case or any other case. The Court of Arbitration for Sport has not responded to NBC News' request for comment, but that court told The New York Times that Gharavi disclosed his work with Romania, and none of the parties involved objected to him as chair, so it had no reason to remove him.
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