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≡ PARIS 2024 ≡
A Monday story posted on the Romanian online news site Ziare.com was headlined:
“Federa ia român de Gimnastic i cea din SUA vor negocia asupra medaliei olimpice de bronz, din cazul Chiles-B rbosu”
In English, this reads as (computer translation from Romanian):
“The Romanian Gymnastics Federation and the US Gymnastics Federation will negotiate over the Chiles-Bărbosu Olympic bronze medal case”
Nope. No. Not a chance. The headline writer needs to be retrained.
The story explained that the President of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee – the National Olympic Committee of Romania – Mihai Covaliu talked about contact with USA Gymnastics:
“This week we will have an online meeting with our partners in the United States, it is more of a technical meeting, with the American gymnastics federation. First and foremost, we will discuss what is happening with these athletes, because they have suffered a lot on an emotional level, and then we will see a common way in which we can close this whole case as soon as possible.”
Covaliu went on and the story quotes him, concerning the award of the Paris 2024 Olympic women’s Floor Exercise bronze medal to Romania’s Ana Barbosu, based on the Court of Arbitration for Sport decision on 10 August and the resulting change in the standings by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique:
“We must defend what we have won so far and we are talking about a medal that a Romanian athlete has won and we must also defend the honor and protect the other Romanian athlete [Sabrina Maneca Voinea], who at one time could also win the bronze medal, but after that the whole process intervened.
“All parties involved collaborate, inform each other, and so far things are fine from our point of view. It is not a story without end, it is a story that ended with the Olympics, but it seems that the verdict was not the one expected by the other participants.
“So the fight continues off the sports field as well, this time through lawyers. The Important thing is that we have done our lessons, we are in contact with everything that is happening and with the American side, and with the Swiss side. There are things that change from day to day, what we have so far is a bronze medal in individual gymnastics for Romania. And from here on we have to pay attention to everything that happens, and I assure you that we are.”
This story, which has been picked up elsewhere, including U.S.-based news sites, is, in its assertion that the Romanian and American federations can somehow agree on what happens next, COMPLETELY WRONG. Here’s the short summary of reality:
● American Jordan Chiles won the women’s Floor bronze in Paris on 5 August and was awarded the bronze medal.
● The Romanian federation appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport the next day and a hearing was held on 10 August. The Court of Arbitration decided that an inquiry on Chiles’ score that ended up increasing her total by 0.10 was invalid and removed, advancing Barbosu to the bronze and leaving Chiles in fifth place. The change in the standings was confirmed (as required) by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique.
● In multiple filings with the Court of Arbitration, one of the requests made by the Romanian federation was for Barbosu, Chiles and Maneca Voinea to all share the bronze medal. This was rejected as outside the Court of Arbitration’s authority, but was publicly posted by the Romanian federation on 30 August.
● Romania appealed Maneca Voinea’s score to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, saying video evidence shows she should not have received an out-of-bounds deduction. Chiles also appealed to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, saying the arbitration panel was improperly assembled and that a series of communications errors by the Court of Arbitration prevented her from making a proper defense.
● Both appeals are with the Swiss Federal Tribunal now, with no indication of when a decision will come on either. The Swiss court will not decide the case, but if it agrees with either appeal (or both), it will direct the Court of Arbitration to re-hear the cases, with a new panel of arbitrators.
That’s where we are today. And here’s where we’re going:
(1) Neither the Romanian or U.S. federations can decide this matter. The Swiss Federal Tribunal has both appeals and the matter is in its hands.
(2) The only agency which can officially change the standings of the women’s Floor Exercise final from Paris 2024 is the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique. Period. End. It’s their competition.
(3) The only agency which can re-allocate medals won at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is the International Olympic Committee. Period. End. The IOC owns the Games.
Any other assertion, including by the Ziare news site, is wrong.
What is true is that the IOC Executive Board is meeting in Lausanne on 8 October and again from 3-5 December of this year. And the IOC, if it wishes, CAN do something about the Olympic Floor bronze situation, as it did at the 2002 Winter Games in the figure skating Pairs judging scandal, creating co-gold-medalists.
So, why not tri-bronze medalists for Paris? It’s in the IOC’s hands, in cooperation with the FIG.
Anything you read otherwise is WRONG.
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