The decision outraged U.S. Olympic and gymnastics officials, and led to a torrent of online abuse against both Chiles and Ana Barbosu, the Romanian athlete who ended up with the bronze.
I’m a state employee and have to fill out COI declarations every year. My state differentiates between what it calls perceived and actual COIs. Actual COIs are more severe and require some kind of plan to eliminate or mitigate. Perceived COIs usually just require you to acknowledge that they exist. With that said, if it’s something as simple as recusing yourself from a decision that any number of alternates could handle, why not recuse yourself even if it is a perceived COI? Not doing so might technically fall in line with the rules/laws, but it sure as hell doesn’t look good.
I’m a state employee and have to fill out COI declarations every year. My state differentiates between what it calls perceived and actual COIs. Actual COIs are more severe and require some kind of plan to eliminate or mitigate. Perceived COIs usually just require you to acknowledge that they exist. With that said, if it’s something as simple as recusing yourself from a decision that any number of alternates could handle, why not recuse yourself even if it is a perceived COI? Not doing so might technically fall in line with the rules/laws, but it sure as hell doesn’t look good.