Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee is coming to the defense of fellow gymnast Jordan Chiles after the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s stripped Chiles of her bronze medal.
“Completely unsuccessful,” wrote Lee on Instagram Stories, reports Sportskeeda. “This is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan.”
Chiles originally placed fifth in the floor exercise, but her coaches successfully appealed arguing the difficulty score used to calculate the standings was originally too low.
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation then filed its own appeal arguing the U.S. failed to appeal within the required 60 seconds, and the court has ordered Chiles to return her medal.
“I’ve got your back forever jo u have all my flowers and u will ALWAYS be an Olympic champion,” wrote Lee.
Throughout the controversy, social media has subjected Chiles to a barrage of attacks.
Her mother spoke out about the vile posts.
“The racist disgusting comments are still happening in 2024. I’m tired of people who say it no longer exists. My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched…and she’s being called disgusting things,” she wrote on X.
This controversy, however, may not be over. Team USA recently found video which it says shows Chiles’ coach announced his appeal at the 47 second mark, Yahoo Sports reports.
“The time-stamped, video evidence submitted by USA Gymnastics Sunday evening shows Landi first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was originally posted,” USA Gymnastics said in its statement.
Romania maintains the appeal was filed at the 1:04 mark, four seconds too late.
Regulations state that the person who receives the appeal must has to note the time.
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