Jordan Chiles has to give back her bronze medal, IOC says

PARIS — U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles must return her bronze medal in the floor exercise, the International Olympic Committee said Sunday, upholding findings that a coach’s protest that got her on the podium shouldn’t have been allowed.

Chiles, 23, had initially finished fifth in the competition on Monday before U.S. coach Cecile Landi successfully lobbied that her athlete’s difficulty score had been under-credited.

Officials on the scene agreed and adjusted Chiles’ score .1 of a point to 13.766, which boosted her above two Romanian athletes, triggering an angry reaction from that delegation.

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Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said he’d refuse to attend the Olympics closing ceremony in protest.

The IOC on Sunday said it would abide by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled that Landi’s protest was made 64 seconds after scores were posted. The deadline for such action is one minute.

Romanian Ana Bărbosu, 18, will now be the floor exercise bronze medalist. 

“Following the CAS decision with regard to the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Final and the amendment of the ranking by the International Gymnastics Federation, the IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Bărbosu (Romania),” the IOC said in a statement on Sunday. “We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if or how Chiles would physically return the medal.

She’s already left France and appeared on NBC’s “TODAY” show on Thursday in New York City.

Chiles still has a gold from the women’s team all-around. She won silver in Tokyo, also in the team all-around.

“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise,” according to a statement issued by USA Gymnastics on Saturday night. “The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring.”

The sport’s U.S. governing body also said the athlete has been “subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media” since the matter came to light.

“No athlete should be subject to such treatment,” they said in the statement. “We condemn the attacks and those who engage, support or instigate them. We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her.”

Chiles posted emojis of four broken hearts on her Instagram on Saturday and said she’d be off from social media to processes this stunning turn of events.

“I am taking the time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you,” she wrote.

David K. Li reported from Paris and Sean Nevin reported from London.