Jordan Chiles Reflects on Olympic Medal Controversy, Says People Didn’t ‘Like’ an ‘All-Black Podium’

Jordan Chiles is reflecting on a trying time in her life.

On Tuesday, November 11, the artistic gymnast, 24, appeared on the Baby, This is Keke Palmer podcast and discussed the “devastating time” in her life when she was stripped of the bronze medal she won for her floor routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Olympian explained that she later realized race played a role in the situation.

“I didn’t think of it in that way until I started literally getting racist comments, saying this and saying that…people were telling me to kill myself,” the Dancing with the Stars competitor shared. “It got to a really, really tough point. I had to get off of social media for a while because it was really hard to even see that as an athlete.”

“Yes, it’s an all-Black podium, which is very rare,” Chiles remarked, referring to how fellow Team USA member Simone Biles won gold in that event and Brazilian gymnast Rebecca Andrade clinched the silver. “It’s obviously something that people just don’t like.”

“They didn’t want to see that. They didn’t want to see three beautiful Black women standing on that podium,” she added. “They didn’t want to see the fact that we were just dominating, and I really took that to heart.”

At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Chiles’ coach submitted an inquiry after her floor routine, a standard move. After reviewing, the judges awarded her an extra tenth of a point, which secured her the bronze medal.

However, Chiles was eventually stripped of her medal after Team Romania claimed the inquiry was made four seconds after the 60-second deadline. The International Olympic Committee reinstated Chiles’ original score, and the bronze medal went to Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu.

According to Today, USA Gymnastics (USAG) filed its own appeal, bringing video evidence to the table that reportedly showed the initial inquiry was submitted before the 60-second mark. Unfortunately, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) declined their appeal.