US gymnast Jordan Chiles’ fight to keep her Paris Olympics bronze medal continues as Switzerland’s top court orders CAS to review new video evidence.
THE Swiss Federal Supreme Court has sent US gymnast Jordan Chiles’s case to retain her Paris Olympics bronze medal back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The court ordered CAS to re-examine the situation, taking new video evidence into account.
Chiles originally won the floor exercise bronze after a score revision elevated her onto the podium, displacing Romania’s Ana Maria Barbosu.
CAS later ruled in Barbosu’s favour, finding Chiles’s appeal for the score revision was submitted four seconds too late.
Lawyers for Chiles challenged that ruling with video footage they said “unequivocally proves” the appeal was submitted on time.
The Swiss court stated the new audio-visual recording from the August 5, 2024 final could lead to a modification of the award in Chiles’s favour.
USA Gymnastics welcomed the decision in a statement.
“We are pleased the Swiss Federal Supreme Court recognized the flaws in the initial process,” the federation said.
It added it looks forward to a fair arbitration including evidence proving the inquiry was filed within the required one minute.
The Swiss Supreme Court rejected a separate claim by Chiles’s attorneys of a conflict of interest by the CAS panel head.
The court found no evidence the arbitrator’s prior work for Romania influenced the case. – AFP
