(NEW YORK) — Olympian Jordan Chiles opened up this week in her first interview since being stripped of her bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The star gymnast, whose bronze medal in the women’s gymnastics floor exercise final was revoked in August, spoke on the subject at the 2024 Forbes Power Women’s Summit in New York City on Wednesday.
“The biggest thing that was taken from me was that it was the recognition of who I was,” said Chiles, pausing halfway through and becoming emotional. “Not just my sport, but the person I am.”
“To me, everything that has gone on, it’s not about the medal, it’s about my skin color, it’s about the fact that there were things that have led up to this position of being an athlete,” she said.
She added, “I felt like when I was back in 2018, where I did lose the love of this sport. I lost it again. I felt like I was really left in the dark.”
Chiles referenced a coach she said she had in 2018, who she claimed “emotionally and verbally abused” her, though she did not name them, and said losing her medal made her feel voiceless again.
“I wasn’t able to be heard,” she said.
She added, “I made history and I will always continue to make history, and something that I rightfully did, I followed the rules. My coach followed the rules. We did everything that was totally, completely right.”
Initially, Chiles finished fifth in the individual floor exercise final at the Paris Olympics, only to be moved up to the bronze medal spot after her coaches appealed the scoring of one of the elements in her routine. In moving from fifth to third, she leaped over two Romanian gymnasts — including Ana Barbosu, who had already begun celebrating bronze.
The International Gymnastics Federation has since awarded Barbosu third place, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided the appeal made by Chiles’ coach at the event, with CAS saying Chiles’ score was “raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline.” In stating the challenge came too late, the CAS reinstated Chiles’ incorrect 13.666 score.
CAS later said it would not hear Chiles’ appeal to keep her bronze medal from the Paris Olympics despite new evidence, according to USA Gymnastics.
Following the unsuccessful appeal, Chiles took to Instagram to share her feelings on losing the medal.
“I have no words. This decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey,” she wrote in a statement at the time.
“To add to the heartbreak, the unprompted racially driven attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this sport and I am so proud to represent my culture and my country,” she continued.
Chiles took home one medal from the Olympics, helping Team USA secure gold in the women’s artistic team all-around event. She was also a part of the silver medal-winning team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
NATIONAL LEAGUE New York Mets 2, Washington Nationals 1 Los Angeles Dodgers 9, Atlanta Braves 0 Milwaukee Brewers 6, Philadelphia Phillies 2 Colorado Rockies 3, Arizona Diamondbacks, 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE Chicago White Sox 8, Los Angeles Angles 4 Cleveland Guardians 4, Minnesota Twins 3 Detroit Tigers 7, Kansas City Royals 6
INTERLEAGUE Chicago Cubs 9, Oakland Athletics 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE FOOTBALL Atlanta Falcons 22, Philadelphia Eagles 21
(NEW YORK) — Tennis star Naomi Osaka is reacting to her early exit from the U.S. Open with a message focusing on pride and motherhood.
Osaka suffered a loss in the second round of the U.S. Open in two straight sets to Czech Karolína Muchová on Thursday.
“Honestly I had typed out a whole caption about how I’m disappointed with myself etc but I’ve been sitting here playing with my daughter and I realized that I couldn’t be more proud of myself,” Osaka wrote on Saturday.
“I gave birth to such an amazing human and I played the US Open? A win is a win,” she continued. “Sure it didn’t work out this time but I have faith it will eventually. Thank you NY 🖤 see you next time.”
Osaka shared photos from the tournament featuring white bows on her outfit along with a video of singer Rihanna saying, “I remember thinking, she can beat me but she can not beat my outfit.”
In a press conference after the match, Osaka opined on her loss saying, “Honestly, if I get past the disappointment, I feel pretty proud of myself to have gotten that many opportunities while still feeling like I could have played much better.”
Prior to Thursday’s loss, the tennis star earned her first top-10 win in four years, beating former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday, advancing to the second round.
Osaka first announced her pregnancy in January of last year, before sharing the arrival of her child in an Instagram post in July of last year.
Naomi Osaka says ‘I don’t feel like I’m in my body’ in candid post after Cincinnati Open loss
In January, Osaka opened up about her postpartum journey in an interview with Glamour.
“Having a baby completely destroys your pelvic floor,” she said. “I was shocked, because I couldn’t get up out of my bed.”