One inquiry fulfilled one athlete’s dreams and produced another’s nightmare in the final event of women’s artistic gymnastics at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
American Jordan Chiles came off the floor to a six-place finish in the floor exercise before Team USA’s inquiry rectified her score and pushed the 23-year-old onto the podium for a bronze medal Monday at Bercy Arena.
As the score was reviewed, Romania’s Ana Barbosu began to celebrate what she thought was her bronze medal by holding her country’s flag up high.
Looking up in disbelief, Barbosu dropped her flag when she realized Chiles had surpassed her after the score change.
The inquiry was reviewed and approved, taking the lead of Chiles’ routine from a C-start value to a D, which upped her score.
She went from a 13.666 to a 13.766, giving her the edge over Barbosu and fellow Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who both tallied scores of 13.700.
It counts as Chiles’ first individual medal of her Olympic career.
The 18-year-old Barbosu had to be consoled while she walked away from the floor with tears tripping down her face.
Making it even more brutal for Barbosu is the third-place finish would have registered Romania’s lone gymnastics medal from the competition.
Romania has seven medals in the 2024 Games, with five via rowing and two from swimming as of Monday afternoon.
For the Americans, the good fortune marked a stark contrast to the day’s fortunes with bone Simone Biles and Suni Lee falling off the balance beam during their routines and failing to medal Monday.
Lee’s mishap kept her from tying Shannon Miller for the second-most medals by an American gymnast, and she will exit Paris with three medals.
Biles rebounded to finish second in the floor exerciss, just ahead of Chiles, upping her career total to 11. She finished with four medals in this year’s Games.