Simone Biles breaks her silence about fellow teammate, Jordan Chiles, being stripped of her Bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
During a recent interview, Biles said she’s looking out for Chiles via phone calls and text messages. “We’ve been FaceTiming, texting, just being girls,” she said. “I did talk to her on one of the days, and I was like, ‘You know what, Jordan, you have to feel all these feels. Don’t let these emotions stop you. This will be the healthiest way to get all of this out.”
The 11-time Olympic medalist also spoke about her friend’s performance at the Olympics. “We saw what you did. And it’s an unfortunate circumstance because something like this has never happened before and it’s truly a shame, but we wish all three girls could get the medal, and unfortunately in gymnastics that’s not the case.”
She added, “Do we think they did the correct procedures to come to this ruling? No. That’s really why we want that justice for Jordan and why we’re going to keep supporting her and uplifting her.”
Simone Biles revealed that she constantly sends Jordan Chiles social media posts to remind her of the support she has. One of those posts was of Flavor Flav’s bronze clock necklace that he promised to make for her after she was stripped of her original medal.
The controversy over the medal began after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) sided with Chiles’ opponents, two Romanian gymnasts, Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Mancea-Voinea. The CAS believed that Chiles’ coach submitted the score inquiry four seconds late which caused the score to change and placed Chiles in third place.
However, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation Appealed the ruling which caused the medal to be given to Barbosu. The USA Gymnastics has appealed the verdict, but CAS has denied it. The USA Gymnastics is still fighting for the 3rd place slot to be restored to Chiles.