Jordan Chiles paused for 14 seconds, lowering his head to collect his thoughts and emotions.
The question – what Chiles felt she lost when the International Olympic Committee stripped her of her Olympic bronze medal in the women’s gymnastics floor exercise – forced her to pause mid-answer. The audience at the Forbes Power Women Summit in New York applauded her as she stood back up and raised the microphone back to her mouth.
Fighting back tears, Chiles said she had lost more than just a bronze medal due to the controversy at the Paris Olympics late last month. She said the controversy was “not about the medals” but other realities that left her feeling “deprived.”
“The biggest thing that was taken away from me was realizing who I am, not just my sport, but who I am as a person,” Chiles said.
“It has to do with the color of my skin,” Chiles added. “There are actually things that lead to the status of being an athlete.”
Wednesday’s on-stage interview came ahead of Chiles’ evening appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards, a day after the International Olympic Committee said it would reallocate Chiles’ bronze medal to the Romanian athlete following an appeal by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation. The gymnast’s most widespread comments since Anna Barbosu.
Chiles originally finished fifth in the floor exercise finals on Aug. 5, but after a successful inquiry from her coach, Cecil Landy, she improved her score by a tenth to move up to third. Three. Five days later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Randy’s inquiry was invalid because it was conducted four seconds after the one-minute appeal window. Following the ruling, the International Gymnastics Federation demoted Chiles to fifth place and the International Olympic Committee reallocated the medals. USA Gymnastics said it is appealing the CAS decision to the Swiss Federal Court.
Chiles said she felt “kept in the dark” and unsupported during the controversy. She felt her voice was not heard during the appeals process and compared her emotions to 2018, when she said a coach emotionally and verbally abused her, causing her to lose her love of gymnastics.
“No one heard the fact that we had taken some steps,” Chiles said. “There are things we should have seen that didn’t happen.”
“The biggest thing that was taken away from me was realizing who I am, not just my sport, but who I am as a person.”
olympic gymnast @ChilesJordan talk with @moiraforbes On being stripped of a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics #PowerWomens Summit. https://t.co/gRF3MBW6J9 pic.twitter.com/Fjett19aDY
— Forbes Women (@ForbesWomen) September 11, 2024
USA Gymnastics argued that it had video evidence showing Randy filed the appeal 47 seconds after Chiles’ results were announced, 13 seconds before the investigation window closed, and that there was insufficient time to properly present his case to CAS.
Chiles previously called the decision “unjust.”
On August 15, Chiles posted on Extremely harmful.
About a month later, Chiles insisted she and her coach followed the rules and did “everything exactly right” during the floor exercise.
“I made history and I will always continue to make history,” said Chiles, who won an Olympic gold medal in the women’s team competition.
Chiles, who will return to UCLA for the upcoming collegiate gymnastics season, received a bronze bell at the VMAs from Flavor Flav, who promised to be stripped of her medal after Later a bronze bell was made for her.
On Wednesday, Chiles received a bronze bell from Flavor Flav. (Norm Galai/MTV Getty Images)
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(Photo: Steven Federman/Getty Images)
