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Ana Maria Bărbosu received the bronze medal she won in the floor final at the Paris Olympics, following the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, during a ceremony held on Friday at the Olympic House esplanade in Bucharest. American journalists report that gymnast Jordan Chiles will keep the bronze medal, as she has reportedly decided not to return it to the International Olympic Committee.
On August 10, the Court of Arbitration for Sport announced the verdict in the case of the appeal filed by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and Ana Maria Bărbosu. On the same day, the International Gymnastics Federation confirmed that it would enforce the decision.
"It's an emotional moment for me. I heard our champions from Paris saying that the medal is very heavy, but I didn’t realize that until now. I want to thank everyone who added a bit of bronze to this medal because this result came after many years of hard work. I thank my coaches, without whom I wouldn’t have succeeded. I'm glad to have this medal in my possession, and I hope to continue representing Romania at the highest level and to bring home as many medals as possible," said the gymnast.
As a result, Jordan Chiles lost her third-place position because her coach submitted the appeal four seconds after the one-minute window in which they had the right to do so. Consequently, Ana Maria Bărbosu retained third place, as the rankings stood before the floor exercise judges at the 2024 Olympics incorrectly accepted the appeal.
The Americans submitted an appeal with new evidence, but on August 12, the final verdict was delivered, and the bronze medal remained with Ana Maria Bărbosu.
Although CAS has warned the U.S. media to remain civilized, American journalists continue to claim the bronze medal for gymnast Jordan Chiles. Bill Plaschke wrote for the LA Times “When the corrupt Olympic gods show up at Jordan Chiles’ doorstep demanding her bronze floor exercise medal, the UCLA gymnast should send them off with three words. Go to hell! It’s her medal, she won it fairly, she won it definitively, it doesn’t belong in this controversy, it doesn’t belong in Romania, it belongs in only one place, now and forever. Draped around her neck.”
CAS firmly condemned the scandalous statements that have appeared in the U.S. media, which accuse, without knowledge of the case details and before the decision has been justified, a biased president and arbitration committee, citing reasons related to professional commitments or nationality.
The Romanian women's gymnastics team returned to the Olympic Games after 12 years at this edition. The Romanian gymnasts finished 7th in the team final, with Ana Maria Bărbosu placing 17th and Amalia Ghigoarţă 22nd in the all-around, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea 8th on beam and 4th on floor, and Ana Maria Bărbosu 3rd on floor.
Romania concluded its participation in the Paris Olympics with nine medals: three gold, four silver, and two bronze, placing 23rd in the nations' ranking.
Ion Țiriac awarded each Olympic medalist a car and a special medal. The athletes received personalized Hyundai Ioniq 5 cars, starting at €52,500, based on the event and sport in which they won their medals. The license plates feature the names of the medalists, and the front bumper of each car is adorned with an Olympic mosaic. Additionally, each car displays the event and sport where the medal was earned.
At the end of the event, the athletes signed a Hyundai car, which will remain in Ion Țiriac's personal collection.
