Jordan Chiles is finally opening up about what it’s been like for her since getting stripped of her bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Source: The Washington Post / Getty
The Olympian is still in the midst of her legal battle to retain her bronze medal from the gymnastics floor final. On Monday, Nov. 11, she stopped by the Today show to talk to Hoda Kotb about what her journey has been like and how she’s processing the situation.
“Honestly, it’s been really really hard just to comprehend everything that’s been happening,” the 23-year-old said. “I’ve been able to finally now feel comfortable in a way to talk about what has been happening.”
Chiles continued, “I feel like I recently have been trying to tell myself I’ve been okay the past four, five months, and it’s honestly been a very, very difficult time.”
The controversy over her medal happened following Chiles’ floor routine. Coach Laurent Landi successfully challenged the judges’ scoring decision and pushed her up to a bronze-medal finish behind Brazilian gold medalist Rebeca Andrade and USA teammate Simone Biles, who took home silver.
It was later determined that Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu should be awarded the bronze due to the gymnastics governing board ruling that the inquiry from Landi had come just a few seconds too late.
In the months since, the Romanian and American Olympic committees have traded petitions and appeals, a process which has left Chiles exhausted.
“It’s hard to tell yourself that everything is going to be fine when you feel like you literally didn’t do anything wrong,” Chiles told Kotb. “Everything was very right, everything was in the time that it needed to be, and for them to come back and say that it was four seconds late when we’ve had proof we’ve had everything that can really show that everything is right.”
She continued, “So I think now it’s just the support that’s been around me I’m like, ‘Okay, I can’t control anything that’s happening on the outside, I can only control what my truth is and I know what the truth is and I know that we were right in everything that we were doing.’”
After previously alluding to the idea that her race played a role in what happened, Chiles also noted how important of a role that played in her achievement.
“It was an all-Black podium that was history made, that was something I’m very proud to be a part of, that was something that I hope people can see,” she said. “That is something I’ll always remember.”
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