Gymnast Jordan Chiles spoke out publicly for the first time since the scandal involving her bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics, sharing her side to the story
Jordan Chiles is speaking her truth.
The Olympian has been embroiled in a tense back and forth over the bronze medal she won for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Now, four months after her win has been questioned, the 23-year-old gymnast spoke out publicly for the first time, admitting to being very nervous to share her side of the story and revealing new details.
I have the medal, Jordan said to Hoda Kotb on the Nov. 11 Today show of the bronze medal that is currently in dispute. The medal is mine.
This is news after it was previously reported that Chiles was stripped of the medal and forced to hand it over to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, who was photographed wearing a bronze medal for the individual floor routine that was initially awarded to Chiles.
“Honestly, it’s been really, really hard just to comprehend everything that’s been happening,” Chiles admitted. “Finally, now I feel comfortable, in a way, to talk about what has been happening. I feel like I recently have been trying to tell myself I’ve been OK, the past four, five months, and it’s honestly been a very, very difficult time.”
Noting that she’s ready “to speak on my truth,” Chiles admitted to struggling with the concept that she could make the right moves and still lose her bronze medal.
“It’s hard to tell yourself that everything’s going to be fine when you know literally we didn’t do anything wrong,” she explained. “Everything was very right. Everything was in the time that it needed to be, and for them to come back and say it was four seconds late when we’ve had proof. We’ve had everything that really can show that everything was right.”
Chiles initially placed fifth in the individual floor routine, but after her coach appealed the judges’ decision, the judges realized they’d miscalculated and adjusted the score, placing Chiles third. However, the International Olympics Committee later claimed that the coach’s appeal actually came four seconds too late despite Simone Biles’ documentary camera crew capturing the timing to seemingly show the coach was within the parameters.
I’ve been like, ‘OK, I can’t control what’s happening on the outside. I can only control what my truth is,’” an emotional Chiles shared. “I know what the truth is, and I know that we were right in
everything that we were doing.
As for why this particular medal was so important to her despite Chiles helping Team USA win gold in Paris, she explained, “It was like a cherry on top. My redemption tour going into Paris was yes, coming back with a gold, coming back with the understanding that I was able to go out there and be the best version of myself. And with this floor medal it was like, ‘Wow, I never expected myself to even make a floor final.’”
It was also important to her to stand on the podium alongside teammate Biles, who won silver, and Brazilian gymnast Rebecca Andrade, who secured the gold.
“It was an all-Black podium, that was history made,” Chiles shared. “That was something I was very proud to be a part of.”
As for the future, Chiles isn’t ruling out the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, however, she’s currently focused on the aftermath of Paris.
“L.A. is in and out of my mind,” she admitted. “I think right now I’m just trying to take in what’s happened from Paris and just try to take it day by day.”
