The ongoing furor surrounding U.S. gymnast Jordan Childs, who was stripped of the bronze medal she won in the floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has brought the unwavering support of Black Twitter and the endorsement of one celebrity who is used to taking on power.
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As previously reported by The Root, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stripped Chile of its bronze medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that an initial investigation into the US team, which had put Chile in third place, was conducted too late. The IOC now says it should return the medal to her, to be awarded to Romania’s Ana Barbos.
One user wrote to X about why Childs was caught up in this controversy: “Why won’t you accept why Jordan Childs is being punished? It’s because she [Black]You can read and analyze the rules all you want, but those rules are not for black gymnasts.”
Another person noted that it was great to see USA Gymnastics rooting for the two-time NCAA national champion, posting, “Happy to see USA going all out for Jordan Chiles.”
The Olympic gold medallist also received support from Public Enemy legend Flaiva Flav, who attended several events in Paris and had a bronze version of his trademark watch necklace made for Chile.
The situation has led to a steady backlash not only on Black Twitter but also against the IOC, CAS and the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). According to Yahoo! Sports, the CAS released a 29-page statement on Wednesday about the hearing and its decision, explaining that it could not award bronze medals to the three gymnasts under investigation: Chile’s Barbos and Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Boinea.
CAS also criticised FIG for causing “great distress” by “failing to provide any mechanisms or arrangements for the implementation of the one-minute rule established under Article 8.5”.
“A great deal of heartache could have been avoided if FIG had put such mechanisms and arrangements in place,” the statement read. “The committee expects that FIG will handle the outcome of this case appropriately with regard to these three exceptional athletes, as well as other athletes and their support staff, to ensure that this never happens again in the future.”
USA Gymnastics (USAG) responded with its own statement, insisting that the investigation was filed within the allotted one-minute deadline, criticizing USAG for failing to respond in a timely manner by CAS sending case filings to an incorrect email address, and questioning the committee’s handling of conflict of interest disclosures.
A major point of contention is the fact that the chairman of the committee has been practicing law in Romania for almost ten years.
“USA Gymnastics strongly disagrees with the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s detailed decision released today. As stated in the decision, USA Gymnastics did not learn of this lawsuit until August 9th, three days after it was filed, two days past the deadline for panelist challenges, and less than 24 hours before the hearing. This is because CAS sent the lawsuit filing to an incorrect email address,” the statement said. “Furthermore, CAS did not send the panelist conflict of interest disclosures to USA Gymnastics and has not reviewed the disclosures to date. As previously stated, video evidence later provided to USA Gymnastics and submitted to CAS clearly shows that head coach Cecil Lundy orally asked a question 47 seconds after the scores were released, well within the one-minute deadline set by FIG rules. We will pursue these and other issues in our appeal as we continue to seek justice for Jordan Chiles.”