A single 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 was in sixth place when she finished the floor exercise, but Team USA’s inquiry led officials to change her score, propelling 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 aloft.
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.
Looking up in disbelief, Barbosu dropped her flag when she realized Chiles had surpassed her after the score change.
The 18-year-old Barbosu had to be consoled while she walked away from the floor with tears dripping down her face.
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Making it even more brutal for Barbosu: the third-place finish would have given Romania its lone gymnastics medal from the competition.
Chiles, though, was overjoyed after winning the first individual medal of her Olympic career.
“This is just a dream come true,” Chiles said on the Peacock broadcast. “It’s my first time ever in an event final. Like we said, it was a redemption tour, and I just wanted to come out and do the best that I could. So this medal means everything.
“First event final, first event medal. Oh my gosh, I have no words, but I’m very proud of myself.”
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 both 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.
