American gymnast Jordan Chiles has secured a major legal victory in her long-running effort to reclaim the bronze medal she was stripped of following the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court on Thursday granted Chiles’s appeal, ordering a fresh review of the controversial decision that removed her Olympic bronze from the women’s floor exercise final. The unprecedented ruling sends the case back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a full reconsideration of newly presented evidence.
Background: A Controversial Medal Change
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chiles initially finished fifth in the floor exercise final on August 5. Her coach filed a scoring inquiry on her behalf — a standard procedure in gymnastics when teams believe a judge has undervalued a routine. That inquiry resulted in Chiles’s score being raised to 13.766, elevating her into the bronze medal position and onto the podium alongside gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the United States.
However, the medal was later reversed after the Romanian Olympic Committee contested the timing of the scoring inquiry. The CAS ruled that the appeal was submitted past the one-minute deadline, voided the score change, and restored the original rankings — leaving Chiles without a medal and awarding bronze to Romania’s Ana Maria Bărbosu.
New Evidence and Legal Turnaround
In its ruling Thursday, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court cited “highly exceptional circumstances” and acknowledged new audio-visual evidence that could prove Chiles’s coach filed the appeal within the strict one-minute window required under international gymnastics rules. That evidence — including broadcast footage that was not previously evaluated — was central to the court’s decision to allow the appeal to move forward.
The court’s decision does not automatically restore Chiles’s bronze medal — but it paves the way for CAS to conduct a full judicial review that includes the new evidence.
Response from Chiles and USA Gymnastics
Chiles’s attorneys and USA Gymnastics welcomed the ruling, calling it a crucial opportunity for a “fair arbitration” that fully considers the available evidence. USA Gymnastics has maintained since the controversy erupted that the original inquiry was timely and consistent with the sport’s technical regulations.
In a statement included in her 2025 memoir, I’m That Girl: Living the Power of My Dreams, Chiles reflected on the emotional toll of the medal dispute and her determination to reclaim what she views as a rightful Olympic result.
What Happens Next?
The CAS has confirmed it will now undertake the newly ordered review, although no timeline has been announced. Legal analysts anticipate the process could take many months or longer, given the complexity of the evidence and the rarity of such a procedural reversal.
For Chiles — already a Paris 2024 team gold medalist — the decision raises the possibility of securing a second Olympic medal more than a year after the Games concluded.
