Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu won the bronze medal on floor on Saturday, five days after competing, when an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a review of American Jordan Chiles’ score was successful.
Barboso had achieved the third best result in the final round (13.700), and thus the bronze medal, behind Brazilian Rebecca Andrade (14.166) and American Simone Biles (14.133).
But Jordan Chiles, the other American finalist, filed a complaint over her original score of 13.666, which put her in fifth place. The judges responded to her request and gave her a 13.766, improving her two places. Barboso was left without a podium finish.
The Romanian team appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, arguing that Chiles’ claim was made outside the one-minute period allowed by the FIG regulations; specifically, within one minute and four seconds.
Barboso was celebrating his bronze medal when Chiles’ new score appeared on the scoreboards. When the Romanian woman saw it, she dropped the flag from her hands and began to cry.
However, CAS warned that it should be FIFA that redistributes the medals “in accordance with the decision taken”.
Legendary gymnast Nadia Comaneci was furious about the incident that occurred in the final.
“I can’t believe we’re playing this way with the mental health and emotions of athletes. Let’s protect them,” asked Comaneci, who has lived in the United States for decades but has always been keen to support gymnasts in his country.
With information from EFE/Image: EFE
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