Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu received her Olympic bronze medal during a ceremony in the capital Bucharest on Friday that marked the conclusion of a swirl of controversy after the medal was first awarded to U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles but later revoked.
“I did not expect the medal to be so heavy, but I would wear it day and night if this is what it takes to have it,” Barbosu said after the ceremony in her home country.
The medal was reallocated to Barbosu after a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last week that voided an appeal by Team USA coach Cecile Landi during the Aug. 5 floor exercise final in Paris, which had vaulted Chiles into third place and pushed Barbosu down to fourth.
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Chiles was initially awarded the bronze following the appeal and participated in the medal ceremony following the competition.
That decision caused an uproar in Romania, historically a gymnastics powerhouse, and led its gymnastics federation to request a review of the U.S. team's appeal procedure. CAS ultimately ruled in favor of Barbosu, saying the U.S. team had made its appeal four seconds beyond the one-minute deadline.
Speaking to reporters on Friday after receiving her medal, Barbosu said the resolution of the controversy "was possible with the help of the federation and the law firm who did not give up on us athletes and fought for us.”
“I am very happy to have this medal and hope to represent Romania at the highest level and bring home more medals,” she said.
Romania was a longtime superpower in gymnastics, but has failed to excel in recent years. Barbosu’s result brings home Romania’s first women’s Olympic medal in gymnastics since the 2012 London Games. USA Gymnastics has said it will continue efforts to let Chiles keep her medal.
Inquiries are a standard part of gymnastics competitions, with athletes or coaches asking judges to review a routine to ensure elements are rated properly. Scores can be adjusted up or down based on an inquiry.
But the affair at the Paris games has been painful for all the athletes involved, exacerbated by streams of online abuse directed at the gymnasts. Chiles, who has received some racially charged comments on social media that she’s called “wrong and extremely hurtful,” said on Thursday that the decision to strip her of the bronze was “unjust.”
Barbosu on Friday said the medal controversy was “saddening,” and that "we expected the referees and staff at the Olympics to do their job properly.”
Still, she said, she was sending the U.S. gymnasts “good thoughts.”
“I am thinking of them even if today I got the medal,” she said.
