Jordan Chiles shared an emotional interview after having her Olympic bronze medal stripped away in Paris.
Chiles had her first live tv interview on the Today show since the 2024 Paris Olympics and spoke on the shocking incident that took place. “It’s been really, really hard just to comprehend everything that’s been happening. I’ve been able to finally now feel comfortable in a way to talk about what has been happening.” During the conversation with Hoda Kotb, Chiles explained that she’s been experiencing a “difficult time” over the past few months.
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“It’s hard to tell yourself that everything is going to be fine when you know that we literally didn’t do anything wrong. Everything was very right, everything was in the time that it needed to be and for them to come back and say it was four seconds late and we had proof and we everything that I can show that everything was right so now I think it’s just the support that’s been around me and I’m like ok I can’t control anything that’s happening on the outside I can only control what my truth is and I know what the truth is.”
Chiles initially placed fifth in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics in August. However, her coach, Cecile Landi, noticed that the judges had made a mistake in assessing the difficulty level of a part of her routine. As a result, her score was revised, promoting her to third place.
On the final day of the Games, the International Olympic Committee declared that it would follow a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which stated that Landi submitted the protest 64 seconds after the scores were released, exceeding the one-minute time limit by four seconds. However, Chiles argued that video footage from the competition indicated that the inquiry was actually made within the 60-second timeframe.
In September, Chiles, backed by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, submitted an appeal to Switzerland’s Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the ruling that resulted in her losing the medal.
During the same month, Chiles, whose father is Black and mother is Latina, revealed that she has faced racist comments online following the international controversy.
When NBC’s Hoda Kotb inquired about the significance of this specific medal, Chiles pointed out that she already has a team gold from Paris and a bronze from the Tokyo Games three years ago.