Context:

• Ana Maria Barbosu (Romania - ROU) was the 5th (out of 8) athlete competed during WAG Floor Event Final. She received the score of 13.700.
• Sabrina Maneca-Voinea (ROU) was the second to last athlete competed. She received the score of 13.700; however, she placed behind Ana due to execution score tiebreaker
• At this point, Barbosu was 3rd in ranking, behind Andrade (BRA) and Biles (USA)
• Maneca-Voinea’s coach submitted an inquiry on her difficulty score but was rejected; no change to scores
• Jordan Chiles (USA) was the last athlete competed. She received a score of 13.666, which originally put her out of medal contention.
• Chiles’s coach submitted an inquiry on her difficulty score and was accepted; her point jumped 0.1, putting her at 13.766 and placing her third.
• The final medalists were: Andrade (Gold), Biles (Silver), Chiles (Bronze)

Escalation to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS):

• Romanian Gymnastics Federation (RGF) submitted a case to CAS asking to review (1) Chiles’ inquiry from a process/timing perspective and (2) Maneca-Voinea’s natural deduction as they believed she was wrongly penalized for an out-of-bound, resulting in her losing 0.1 (i.e., her score should have been 13.800)
  • Related to (1), note that for an inquiry to be considered, a coach must submit a verbal inquiry within ONE MINUTE after the athlete finishes her routine and a written inquiry within FOUR MINUTES
• RGF asked CAS for a ruling that would put all 3 athletes, Maneca-Voinea (ROU), Barbosu (ROU), and Chiles (USA), in the third position and allocate bronze medals to all 3.
  • However, note that CAS has no authority over medal allocation when it comes to Women’s Artistic Gymnastics. Only the IOC and the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) can do that.

CAS Decision - LINK

• CAS determined that Chiles’ verbal inquiry was submitted FOUR SECONDS after the 1-minute mark (!!!), rendering the inquiry invalid
  • From the ruling: The initial score of 13.666 given to Ms Jordan Chiles in the final of the women’s Floor exercise shall be reinstated
• CAS dismissed the inquiry into Maneca-Voinea’s score.

What’s next?

• It’s now FIG’s decision to act (or not act) in accordance with this ruling:
  • From the ruling: The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique shall determine the ranking of the Final of the women’s Floor exercise and assign the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision.
• If FIG follows the decision, it means that Chiles’ medal must be stripped as the score ranking would be as follows: Andrade (BRA), Biles (USA), Barbosu (USA), Maneca-Voinea (ROU), and Chiles (USA)