In her first public comments since she was stripped of a bronze medal she appeared to have rightfully won, Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles said Wednesday she’s still seeking “justice” and “peace.”
Chiles, speaking at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit in New York City, said the situation regarding the disputed medal has taken a severe emotional toll.
“The biggest thing that was taken from me was,” Chiles said, her voice choking with emotion that forced her into a 14-second delay to compose herself, “the recognition of who I was, not just my sport, but the person I am.”
Chiles, 23, has said she has had to endure, often on her own, racist internet criticism in the wake of the international dispute.
“At this rate, it’s not really about the medal; it’s about my peace and my justice,” she said at the conference. “It’s about my skin color. It’s about how I felt there weren’t a lot of people supporting me who I thought could support me.”
Chiles originally finished fifth on the floor exercise before coach Cecile Landi saw that judges had erred in evaluating the degree of difficulty for an element of her routine.
Once the scoring error was corrected, Chiles vaulted into third place and bronze medal position.
Romanian sports authorities loudly protested, and on the last day of the Games, the International Olympic Committee announced it would abide by a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that Landi made the protest 64 seconds after scores were posted.
The deadline for such action is one minute.
The bronze was then awarded to Romanian Ana Bărbosu, 18.
Despite the setback, Chiles still has on her mantle a team gold from Paris and a bronze earned three years ago in Tokyo.
Chiles, whose father is Black and mother is Latina, said she’s doing her best to deal with online hate since the controversy erupted.
“I am a two-time Olympic champion, I am a two-time Olympian, I am a world champion. I am all those things,” Chiles said.
“No matter what, I’m always going to have those accolades with me and I’m going to continue to shine bright in the ways that I’m going to shine bright, because the star is never going to get dimmed.
