By Joiner Martinez
Aug 16, 2024, 8:17 PM EDT
Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu received her Olympic bronze medal during a ceremony in the capital Bucharest on Friday.
This marked the end of the controversy after the medal was initially awarded to American gymnast Jordan Chiles but later revoked.
“I didn’t expect the medal to be so heavy, but I would wear it day and night if that’s what it takes to get it,” Barbosu said after the ceremony.
The medal was reassigned to Barbosu after a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling last week overturned an appeal by Team USA coach Cecile Landi during the Aug. 5 floor gymnastics final in Paris that had bumped Chiles to third place and pushed Barbosu to fourth.
Chiles was initially awarded bronze on appeal and participated in the medal ceremony after the competition.
That decision caused an uproar in Romania, historically a gymnastics powerhouse, and prompted its gymnastics federation to request a review of the U.S. team’s appeal procedure. CAS ultimately ruled in favor of Barbosu, saying the U.S. team had filed its appeal four seconds after the one-minute deadline.
Speaking to reporters on Friday after receiving her medal, Barbosu said the resolution of the controversy “was possible with the help of the federation and the law firm who did not give up on us, the athletes, and fought for us.”
“I am very happy to have this medal and I hope to represent Romania at the highest level and bring more medals home,” she said.
Romania was long a superpower in gymnastics but has failed to break through in recent years. Barbosu’s result brings home Romania’s first Olympic women’s gymnastics medal since the 2012 London Games. USA Gymnastics has said it will continue its efforts to help Chiles retain her medal.
Consultations are a standard part of gymnastics competitions, where athletes or coaches ask judges to review a routine to ensure that elements are graded correctly. Scores can be adjusted up or down based on a consultation.
But the Paris Games affair has been painful for all athletes involved, exacerbated by streams of online abuse directed at gymnasts. Chiles, who has received some racially charged comments on social media that she called “incorrect and extremely hurtful,” said Thursday that the decision to strip her of bronze was “unfair.”
Barbosu said Friday that the medal controversy was “sad” and that “we expected the referees and the Olympic staff to do their job properly.”
Still, she said, she was sending “good thoughts” to the American gymnasts.
“I am thinking of them even if I win the medal today,” he concluded.
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