American gymnast Jordan Chiles has appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland.against a ruling that stripped her of the bronze medal in the women’s floor event at the Paris Olympics.
Ana Maria Barbosu, a Romanian gymnast, won the bronze medal after a successful appeal against the American being given the medal. Barbosu and her team appealed to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the grounds that an inquiry filed by the U.S. team regarding the results of the floor exercise, which led to Chiles’ score being raised, had been registered four seconds after the one-minute deadline allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation.
Chiles’s score was lowered as a result of the Romanian’s successful appeal, and she dropped out of third place behind her American teammate Simone Biles, who won the silver medal, and Brazilian winner Rebeca Andrade.
However, the American’s attorneys argue in the appeal that CAS disregarded video evidence that shows the investigation was filed on time. Moreover, they contend that there was a conflict of interest with Hamid Gharavi, the president of the CAS panel that nullified Chiles’ bronze medal.
“Mr. Gharavi has acted as counsel for Romania for almost a decade and was actively representing Romania at the time of the CAS arbitration,” attorneys for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLC stated.
They added: “From start to finish, the procedures leading to the CAS panel’s decision were fundamentally unfair, and it is no surprise that they resulted in an unjust decision.”
The Olympian, who shared the team gold medal with Biles in Paris, has said that she will persevere and that she still has hope of winning in the end.
Chiles said: “I am now confronted with one of the most challenging moments of my career…I will approach this challenge as I have others – and I will make every effort to ensure that justice is done. I believe that at the end of this journey, the people in control will do the right thing.”
Source: CNA