After the Swiss Federal Supreme Court agreed last month to rehear Jordan Chiles’ 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medal case, she is speaking out about what the fight means to her and for athletes everywhere.
In a new essay published in Time magazine on Tuesday, Feb. 10, the 24-year-old Olympic gymnast opens up about the ongoing saga, who has been in her corner, and the battle ahead.
“Ever since the 2024 Olympics, I have felt like I was holding my breath,” she began.
During the Paris Games, Chiles was initially awarded bronze in the floor exercise. However, after officials ruled that her coach failed to submit a score inquiry in time, she was knocked off the podium and stripped of the medal, which was then awarded to Romania’s Ana Barbosu. That decision is now under fresh review by the Court of Arbitration for Sport following a reversal from the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. New video evidence suggests the U.S. team’s inquiry may have been filed within the deadline.
“When the Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruled in my favor to consider the video footage, I felt something I had not felt in a long time: relief, validation, and a quiet sense of peace,” the “Dancing With the Stars” finalist wrote. “Not because the journey is over, but because for the first time, the system acknowledged what I have been saying all along — that athletes deserve fairness. We deserve due process. We deserve to be heard.”
She added that she was “deeply grateful” for the turn of events and for “everyone who stood beside” her, including her family, coaches, and teammates. Still, she made clear the fight has never been solely about her.
“It is about every athlete who has ever stood on a podium, trusting that the rules would be applied fairly,” she said.
Referencing the moment she shared the podium with fellow champions Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade, creating the first all-Black Olympic gymnastics podium in history, the UCLA senior added, “I fight for that historic all-Black podium. A moment that was etched into the hearts of everyone who witnessed it. It is a powerful reminder that when our world seems chaotic and our future uncertain, the spirit of the Olympic Games can be a beacon to guide us back to humanity.”
The case, officially reopened on Jan. 29, remains ongoing. Because CAS must re-review all of the evidence, including the new video the gymnastics star says shows her coach submitting the inquiry in time, the process could take months to over a year. But she isn’t backing down, noting the fight is also, in some ways, for “young Jordan.”
“I owe it to her to see this through,” she wrote.
“This case is bigger than one competition or one result. It is about trust. Athletes give everything to their sport,” she continued. “Our bodies. Our time. Our youth. We deserve a system that treats us with the same respect and seriousness that it demands from us. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court decision gives me hope that progress is possible — that institutions can be held accountable, and that change does not have to be symbolic. It can be real.”
