Jordan Chiles was officially stripped of her bronze medal in floor exercise at the Paris Olympics 2024 following a court ruling on Saturday. The IOC announced that the medal will now be reallocated to Romania’s Ana Barbosu after it was determined that the American gymnast was incorrectly awarded the third place.
Following the controversial ruling, Chiles has been at the receiving end of racist messages.
On Aug. 9, ahead of the CAS’ decision being made public, Jordan Chiles’ mother, Gina Chiles, revealed that her daughter had been harassed online.
“The racist disgusting comments are still happening in 2024,” she wrote on X. “I’m tired of people who say it no longer exists. My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched…and she’s being called disgusting things.”
On Aug. 10, Chiles’ sister Jazmin shared her thoughts in her Instagram story, writing, “Racism is real, it exists, it is alive and well. They have officially, 5 days later, stripped her of one of her medals. Not because she didn’t win, not because she was drugged, not because she stepped out of bounds. Not because she wasn’t good enough.”
Jazmin went on to say, “But because the judges failed to give her difficulty and forced an inquiry to be made.” “FOUR SECONDS. Her bronze was stripped over 4 seconds of time that would have never needed to happen if the judges did their job,” she added. “I love you baby sis. And I got yo back no matter what,” she concluded.
In the wake of CAS’ decision, Chiles chose to remove herself from social media for her mental health. However, her sister has been at the receiving end of hate messages after standing up for Chiles.
“Cry me a river,” “STFU n-word,” “Suck my d*ck monkey” are only a few of the replies Jazmin received from numerous troll accounts. The most blatantly racist reply was sent from an account belonging to @Ascor.Craiova, an association of Orthodox Christian Students from Romania. The message read: “GET A JOB N—ER!”
Chiles responded to the troll accounts via a follow-up post in her Instagram Story.
“And just to make sumn clear-,” wrote Chiles. “The racism that’s BEHIND the comments and vulgar and vile comments that being made toward my sister is what I’m speaking on.” She clarified that she was not calling the other gymnasts racists or stating that the decision was rooted in racism but that racism was “alive and well.” She added that within the “last 5 days,” she had been called “Blacky, a monkey, and ni—r. And much more!!!”
She ended her post with a message to the haters, “So keep yall little raggedy comments to yall self.”