U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles says 'the person I am' was taken from her during Olympic medal controversy
CTV
An emotional Jordan Chiles opened up Wednesday about how the controversy surrounding her bronze medal in the women's artistic floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Games affected her, saying the process took away "the person I am."
An emotional Jordan Chiles opened up Wednesday about how the controversy surrounding her bronze medal in the women's artistic floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Games affected her, saying the process took away "the person I am."
U.S. gymnast Chiles was stripped of her first individual Olympic medal after the Romanian gymnastics team challenged the decision to revise her final score in the floor exercise to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS). CAS eventually upheld the challenge, meaning the U.S. star's bronze went to Romania's Ana Bǎrbosu.
On Wednesday, Chiles said that the whole ordeal affected her deeply.
"The biggest thing that was taken from me was the recognition of who I was.
Not just my sport, but the person I am," she told Forbes' Power Women's Summit, appearing emotional at times. She was given a round of applause from the watching audience as she collected her thoughts.
"To me, everything that has gone on, it's not about the medal. It's about my skin color. It's about the fact there were things that have led up to this position of being an athlete. And I felt like everything has been stripped. I felt like when I was back in 2018 where I did lose the love of the sport, I lost it again. … I feel like I was really left in the dark."
CNN has reached out to the International Olympic Committee, the International Gymnastics Federation and CAS for comment on Chiles' comments.
