Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu is all smiles with Olympic bronze medal. She recently celebrated the achievement by kissing the medal during a ceremony, just days after it was taken from Team USA’s Jordan Chiles.
The 18-year-old gymnast officially received the medal during a ceremony in her home country on Friday, where it was presented to her with a drape around her neck. Along with the medal, she was also given a handshake, an official poster for the Paris Games, and a plush toy of the Olympic mascot.
RELATED: Jordan Chiles Speaks Out After Having Her Bronze Olympic Medal Stripped From Her
As we previously reported, Chiles addressed the situation on Thursday in which she expressed that the situation feels unjust. “I have no words. This decisions feels unjust and comes as a significant blow not just to me but to everyone who has championed my journey,” Chiles wrote. “To add to the heartbreak, the unprompted racially driven attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful.”
As we previously reported, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced a ruling stating that Jordan Chiles’ coach submitted a request to review her score four seconds too late during the floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Although the request was accepted at the time, the review concluded that Chiles had been underscored.
The CAS ruling upheld the initial score, resulting in Chiles being dropped in the rankings. Following this decision, the International Olympic Committee announced on Sunday that it would be requesting the return of Chiles’ medal so it could be awarded to Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu, who originally placed third in the event.
USA Gymnastics has stated that it is contesting the ruling and raised several concerns regarding the process, which was initiated by an appeal from Romanian officials. They argued that they received insufficient notice about the proceedings because the CAS mistakenly informed the wrong American officials, preventing them from adequately reviewing the case.