Jordan Chiles ‘earned that medal’: Gymnast Dominique Dawes
- International sporting court: Team USA appeal rejected, no way to reverse move
- Chiles rightfully earned bronze, but technicality cost her place on podium
- Olympian Dominique Dawes: Both athletes could receive medals as solution
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(NewsNation) — An international sporting court rejected an appeal by Team USA on Monday to award gymnast Jordan Chiles a bronze medal she rightfully earned because of an alleged four-second delay on her coach’s end.
Three-time Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes told “Dan Abrams Live” it’s an unfortunate turn of events for the young athlete, but she’s not sure anything will change.
Dawes explained that even those in the gymnastics world “are very confused by this whole situation.”
The Court of Arbitration for Sport voided an on-floor appeal by Chiles’ coach that put her on the podium, claiming the appeal came four seconds late. Scoring inquiries can only be appealed within one minute of the questioned call.
But U.S. officials say they have a time-stamped video proving their appeal was made within that 60-second window.
“I don’t know what to believe. It sounds as if there’s two truths going on here, and there’s obviously going to be a third truth, and we’ll see what that could be,” Dawes said.
Following the CAS rejection Monday, USA Gymnastics shared disappointment over this seemingly final ruling against Chiles.
“We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan,” USA Gymnastics said Monday in a statement.
The solution? Dawes agreed with Abrams that awarding both Chiles and Romania’s Ana Barbosu a bronze medal could be a potential fix.
Dawes competed in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic games, leading her “Magnificent Seven” team to gold in Atlanta and making history as one of the first Black gymnasts to win gold.
Dawes notedthat she’s been on the other side of a similar situation in her own career.
“My last Olympic Games was in 2000 Sydney, Australia, our team actually earned a fourth-place finish,” Dawes said. “However, a Chinese gymnast was found to be underage, and 10 years later, we were all awarded — my team and I were awarded — a bronze medal for our team performance.”
But she said what’s happened to Chiles, a revoked medal not from cheating but due to a technicality, is likely causing an “emotional rollercoaster” for the gymnast.
