Simone Biles Responds to Missed Inquiry That Might Have Cost Her Another Gold Medal: ‘Not a Big Deal’
Video footage shows that the decorated gymnast might've missed out on another Olympic gold due to an oversight by the scoring committee.
Simone Biles could have been one gold medal richer at the 2024 Olympics, but new footage shows a missed inquiry that might have cost her the win.
Video clips from Netflix’s Simone Biles: Rising were given to teammate Jordan Chiles, which her lawyers submitted to the Swiss Federal Tribunal on September 16 in a bid for Chiles to keep her bronze medal.
But the footage also shows Team USA coach Cecile Landi submitting a separate inquiry on behalf of Biles, which went unheard.
Per The Athletic, Biles finished 0.033 points behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade to win a silver medal in the Women’s Individual Floor final. If the inquiry was successful, Biles would have earned enough points to win the gold medal for her routine.
However, Biles is taking the high road. “Honestly not a big deal for me, Rebeca had a better floor anyways,” she responded in a post to X. “Upsetting how it wasn’t processed but I’m not mad at the results.”
Instead, she directed her attention to her fellow teammate. “BUT JUSTICE FOR JORDAN,” she continued. “Ya hear me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Jordan Chiles received an initial score of 13.666, placing her fifth in the Women’s Gymnastics Floor Routine. Following Chiles’ routine, Team USA submitted an inquiry, which the judges accepted and thus bumped her into the bronze position. The video submitted on Sept 16 showed Landi submitting an inquiry for Chiles twice before the one-minute window to appeal scores closed.
However, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation filed an appeal challenging the timeliness of Chiles’ inquiry, saying it was submitted four seconds after the one-minute window. The challenge was ruled in favor of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, which stripped Chiles of her bronze medal and reallocated it to Romania’s Ana Bărbosu.
“Chiles is pursuing her case to encourage the entire Olympic community to take steps to ensure that future Olympians do not face a similar ordeal,” a statement by Chiles's lawyers reads. “Chiles believes in competing fairly and with integrity and holding these organizations to the standards and rules that were established to ensure fairness.”