Jordan Chiles Is Shining On

One month after the International Olympic Committee ordered Jordan Chiles to return her bronze medal, the gymnast opened up publicly about the controversy for the first time. “I followed the rules, my coach followed the rules. We did everything that was totally, completely right. I feel like the [judges] just took that all away,” said the athlete, 23, at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit in New York on Sept. 11.

During the women’s floor exercise final on Aug. 5, Chiles initially earned a fifth-place score of 13.666. Her coach, believing the difficulty score had been calculated incorrectly, quickly filed an inquiry with the judges, and Chiles was awarded an additional 0.100 points, propelling her into third place and past Romanian gymnasts Ana Bărbosu and Sabrina Voinea. Minutes later, she stepped onto the first all-Black podium in Olympic gymnastics history alongside teammate Simone Biles and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade.

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation appealed the score change, citing that the inquiry had been filed past the one-minute cutoff. On Aug. 10, the IOC reinstated Chiles’ original score. The next day, USA Gymnastics submitted additional video evidence that appears to show the inquiry was made at 47 seconds, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport denied the appeal.

Chiles was devastated. “The biggest thing that was taken from me was…” she said. Visibly emotional, she paused to collect herself. “The recognition of who I was, not just my sport but the person I am… It's not about the medal. It's about my skin color… I felt like everything [had] been stripped.”

She called the experience a “betrayal,” adding that it took a toll on her sense of self. In the wake of the incident, Chiles, who’s Afro-Latina, received hateful messages, including racist slurs. Her family did as well.

It wasn't Chiles’ first encounter with racism in her career. She considered quitting at 17 because a former coach made racist comments about her hair and skin tone. “I didn’t think… the sport wanted me,” she told NBC News on June 18. “I didn’t think people around me wanted to see this beautiful Black girl in a [leotard] anymore.”

At 18, she moved to Texas to train alongside Biles, and she credits her coaches and teammates there with helping her embrace her identity. “I do have the nails, I have the tattoos, I do different hairstyles, I do all those things because that's just me,” she said. “Simone has changed the game of the sport, and I feel like I have changed the culture of the sport.”

As the Olympics controversy unfolded, she received an outpouring of support on social media from fans, celebrities, and fellow athletes. “At first, it was really hard to take that in because of how badly my heart was broken,” Chiles said. “But I do appreciate every single person... [People] recognizing the fact that I was going through something and trying to make it right, it just made me feel seen again.”

The public reaction reminded her of her worth. “I am a two-time Olympic champion. I’m a world champion. Seeing the comments has [helped me] understand that no matter what, I’m always going to have those accolades. The star is never going to get dimmed and I’m always just going to keep walking forward.”

Chiles added that training for the 2028 Olympics is “a possibility,” but in the meantime, she plans to keep fighting. “Those people that took everything away from me, they are recognizing that it’s not over,” she said. USAG has said it will continue to pursue its efforts to restore her medal. “My team, my family, the support system I have, we’re going to continue to make it right. At this point, it’s not really about the matter,” she said. “It’s about my peace and justice.”