Stand with Team USA! Simone Biles And Sunisa Lee talk about Jordan Chiles‘Olympic floor exercise score change. Both gymnasts expressed support for their teammates amid reports the International Gymnastics Federation could strip Chiles of her bronze medal.
Simone Biles & Sunisa Lee SAY THIS About Olympic Court Ruling
While enjoying the beautiful scenery of Europe and sharing with fans on IGS, Simone spoke on behalf of Chiles. She shared a photo belong to She herself was seen hugging an emotional Jordan after her bronze medal win on August 5. Her caption read, “Sending you lots of love, Jordan [white heart emoticon]. Keep your chin up, Olympic Champion! We love you!”
Additionally, Biles retweeted a post from the Inside Gym account detailing Sunisa Lee’s thoughts on the score change. On her Instagram Story, Lee took on the judges, blaming them for the unprecedented change. She shared her comments in addition to retweeting a joint statement from USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (see below).
“All this talk about the athletes, what about the judges?? Totally unacceptable. It’s horrible and I feel so sad for Jordan. I’m rooting for you Jo [yellow heart emoticon]. You have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an Olympic champion,” Sunisa Lee wrote.
Here’s why Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal was left in doubt
Monday’s floor exercise competition marks the final event in women’s gymnastics. Finally, Brazil Rebecca Andrade took home the gold medal, Biles took home the silver medal, and Jordan took home the bronze medal. But initially, two Romanian gymnasts —Ana Barbosu And Sabrina Maneca-Voinea — tied for third and fourth place with 13,700 points respectively.
Meanwhile, Jordan Chiles placed fifth with a score of 13.600. One minute and four seconds after the judges announced the score, the American coach appealed, citing Jordan’s low score on the difficulty. Coach Celile Landi argued for a 0.1 increase, and the judges agreed with the appeal, placing Jordan in third place ahead of Ana and Sabrina.
The Romanian Olympic Committee has sent a letter of protest. On Saturday (August 10), the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled to overturn the appeal that had awarded Chiles the bronze medal and revert to the original scoring system. This means Jordan is now considered to be in fifth place. The International Gymnastics Federation has yet to announce whether it will officially strip Chiles of his medal or award bronze medals to all three affected gymnasts.
Following the announcement, Chiles announced a break from social media for her “mental health.” Meanwhile, her sister spoke out about the CAS ruling, highlighting racism as the reason for the five-day delay in the ruling.
RELATED: Jordan Chiles reacts after appeal was dismissed which put her in fifth place behind two Romanian gymnasts
Meanwhile, this is the second time this week that Simone Biles has come to the defense of her teammate amid controversy. Speaking to PEOPLE on August 6, Biles defended her decision to respond to the former gymnast My Kayla Skinner for criticizing the “professional ethics” of Olympic teammates Sunisa, Jordan,
Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera.
RELATED: Simone Biles Defends Response to MyKayla Skinner’s Criticism of Her Olympic Teammates (VIDEO)
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