USA gymnastics star Suni Lee has spoken out on the decision to strip teammate Jordan Chiles of her Olympics bronze medal – taking aim at the judges for allowing an ‘unacceptable’ debacle to unfold.
Chiles has been ordered to return her bronze medal less than a week since dramatically making it onto the podium following late controversy in the women’s floor final.
The 23-year-old was the last athlete to compete and, after initially receiving a score of 13.666 that placed her fifth, a USA appeal bumped her score up by 0.1 and pushed her into the medal positions at the expense of Romania’s Ana Barbosu.
Amid uproar in Romania over the decision, the International Olympic Committee announced early Sunday that it was reallocating the bronze to Barbosu after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided the scoring appeal that moved Chiles up to third place.
It is a devastating blow for the American youngster, who was left in tears after seemingly landing her first individual Olympic medal.
And after her teammate was ordered to give her bronze back, Lee – who won gold alongside Chiles in the team final and individual bronzes in the all-around and uneven bars events – took to Instagram to fume over the decision.
She shared a USA statement condemning the CAS ruling and wrote on her story: ‘all this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?? completely unacceptable, this is awful and i’m gutted for jordan.
‘I got your back forever jo – u have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an olympic champion.’
Simone Biles also voiced her support for Chiles amid the dispute over her bronze medal in the floor exercise.
Biles, who cemented her legacy as the most decorated American gymnast of all time in Paris, responded to the controversy by writing on Instagram: ‘Sending you so much love Jordan. Keep your chin up Olympic champ! We love you!’
Early on Sunday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed it will re-award Chiles’ bronze medal to Barbosu after the sport’s highest court voided an on-floor appeal from American coach Cecile Landi.
Hours later, the USOPC came up with a statement, expressing their belief that ‘Chiles rightfully earned’ the bronze medal.
‘There were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the Gymnastics Federation (FIG) ad the subsequent CAS appeal process that needed to be addressed,’ they wrote.
‘The initial error happened in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision. As a result, we were not properly represented or afforded the opportunity to present our case comprehensively.’
‘Given these circumstances, we are committed to pursuing an appeal to ensure that Jordan Chiles receives the recognition she deserves,’ the statement continued. ‘We remain dedicated to supporting her as an Olympic champion and will continue to work diligently to resolve this matter swiftly and fairly.’
