Gymnast Jordan Chiles appeals Olympic bronze medal decision; A Swiss court will hear the case again

American gymnast Jordan Chiles he was given a request in his efforts to regain the bronze medal in the floor exercise he stripped from her at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Switzerland’s Supreme Court said on Thursday its judges had sent the “extraordinary circumstances” of the women’s gymnastics bronze medal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to examine new evidence.

The outcome of an event that created a celebrated Olympic image featuring Chiles, floor exercise silver medalist Simone Biles and Brazil’s gold medalist Rebeca Andrade – all women of color – rests for just a few moments: Can the US team prove it made a timely appeal on the Olympic field on behalf of Chiles?

The decision of the Swiss federal judges – which is very unusual in cases of this type – suggested that Chile could regain the bronze medal earlier in Paris after challenging its scores.

Chile’s third-place finish was overturned within days after the Romanian team appealed to the CAS Olympic tribunal in Paris. The medal was awarded in Bucharest the following week to Ana Maria Barbosu.

Chiles said at the time that the decision felt “unjust and comes as an important blow, not only to me, but to everyone who fought for my journey.”

The federal court wants CAS to review recordings that could show that the US’s original challenge of the adjourned points was within the one-minute time limit on the field of play.

“In the extremely rare circumstances of the case in question,” the Swiss Federal Tribunal in a statement, “considers that there is a high probability that the audio-visual recording of the final on Aug. 5, 2024 will lead to the modification of the disputed award in favor of the applicant (Chiles).”

CAS said in a statement on Thursday that it “can now confirm that a thorough review of the new evidence is now available.”

Both CAS and Switzerland’s highest court based in Lausanne, which is considered the Olympic Capital, did not provide a timetable for the review. It will probably take at least one year of preparation and consideration before the decision is final.

Still, the federal court’s decision has given Chiles renewed hope to keep his medal and put the controversy behind him.

“We are glad that the Swiss Supreme Court corrected the mistake and gave Jordan the opportunity he deserved to receive the bronze medal,” said Maurice M. Suh, who is part of the team of lawyers representing Chile, in a statement. “As the Court has observed, there is ‘overwhelming’ video evidence that Jordan is the winner of the bronze medal.”

Suh added that Chiles will “fight hard” and is grateful to have “a full and fair chance to defend his bronze medal.”

USA Gymnastics praised the court for recognizing “errors in the original plan and that Jordan’s case could be heard with all the relevant evidence.”

“USA Gymnastics will continue to support Jordan and her team’s efforts to secure a bronze medal at the 2024 Women’s Gymnastics Games,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement. “We look forward to a fair arbitration including clear evidence proving that Jordan’s points investigation was properly filed within 1 minute as required by FIG rules.”

Chiles, now 24, is moving forward with his life after dealing with him the internet’s biggest setback – some of them racially mixed – after immediate results.

She returned to compete collegiately at UCLA while leaning on her budding celebrity, participating in the reality competition “Dancing With the Stars,” landing a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and currently appearing in a commercial for a women’s sportswear line featuring tennis icon Serena Williams and track star Sha’Carri Richardson.