After being stripped of her bronze medal, Simone Biles is seeking justice for her Olympic teammate Jordan Chiles.
In a recent interview with People, Biles says she’s been supporting Chiles through this difficult time.
“We’ve been FaceTiming, texting, just being girls,” Biles said. “I did talk to her on one of the days, and I was like, ‘You know what, Jordan, you have to feel all these feels. Don’t let these emotions stop you. This will be the healthiest way to get all of this out.'”
Biles added, “It’s an unfortunate circumstance because something like this has never happened before and it’s truly a shame, but we wish all three girls could get the medal and unfortunately in gymnastics that’s not the case.”
As Blavity reported, Chiles took home a bronze medal after performing her floor routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Afterward, Chiles’ coach Cecile Landi requested an appeal. The score was adjusted, moving Chiles up to third place. However, it was decided that the appeal was made four seconds too late, which ultimately led to Chiles being stripped of her bronze medal. In a statement, USA Gymnastics said there’s video evidence that proves Chiles’ bronze win.
“While celebrating my Olympic accomplishments, I heard the devastating news that my bronze medal had been stripped away,” Chiles tweeted on June 15. “I had confidence in the appeal brought by USAG who gave conclusive evidence that my score followed all the rules. This appeal was unsuccessful.”
— Jordan Chiles (@ChilesJordan) August 15, 2024
After being asked whether the call was the right move, Biles disagreed.
“Do we think they did the correct procedures to come to this ruling? No,” she said. “That’s really why we want that justice for Jordan and why we’re going to keep supporting her and uplifting her.”
Biles also shared how she’s been going out of her way to make sure Chiles knows how many people are rallying behind her.
“I know she’s not on social media, but some of the funny things I’ve seen, I said, ‘Okay, Jordan, can I send you something that I think you would really like right now?'” she said. “And so I’ve sent her little things, and it was like one of them was these four or five girls guarding a medal, and I thought that was the cutest. And then I sent her Flavor Flav’s bronze [medal he made for her] and then I sent her LeBron [James]’s tweet.”
Biles added, “So just things to uplift her and know that she still has that support all-around.”
