Jordan Chiles paused for 14 seconds and looked down to gather his thoughts and emotions.
When asked what she felt she had lost when the International Olympic Committee stripped her of her Olympic bronze medal in the floor exercise, Childs had to stop mid-answer. The audience at the Forbes Power Women Summit in New York erupted in applause when she regained her composure and put the microphone to her mouth again.
Fighting back tears, Childs said she lost more than just her bronze medal in the controversy that erupted in the final stages of last month's Paris Games. “The controversy wasn't about the medal, it was about other realities that made me feel 'stolen',” Childs said.
“The biggest thing that was taken away from me was the perception of not only the sport but who I am as a person,” Chiles said.
“This is about the color of my skin,” Childs added. “This is about the fact that there were events that led me to this position as an athlete.”
Wednesday's onstage interview, which took place before Chiles' appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards in the evening, marked the athlete's most detailed comments since the IOC announced it would reallocate Chiles' bronze medal to Romania's Ana Barbos following a complaint from the Romanian Gymnastics Federation.
In the floor exercise final on August 5, Chiles was initially placed fifth, but after her coach, Cecil Lundy, filed an investigation, she was allowed to increase her score by one tenth, moving her up to third place. Five days later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Lundy's investigation was invalid because it had been four seconds past the one-minute appeal deadline. Following the ruling, the International Gymnastics Federation demoted Chiles to fifth place, and the IOC changed the medal allocation. USA Gymnastics has announced that it will appeal the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to the Swiss Federal Court.
Childs said she felt “left in the dark” and unsupported during the controversy. She felt her voice wasn't heard during the appeal process and compared her feelings to those in 2018, when she lost her love for gymnastics because of an emotionally and verbally abusive coach.
“Nobody has listened to the fact that there are measures we are putting in place,” Childs said. “Some of the measures we are putting in place should be recognized but are not being implemented.”
“The biggest thing that was taken from me was the perception of who I am as a person. Not just in sports, but as a person myself.”
Olympic Gymnast @ChildsJordan He said Moira Forbes On being stripped of his bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics #PowerWomenSummithttps://t.co/gRF3MBW6J9 pic.twitter.com/Fjett19aDY
— ForbesWomen (@ForbesWomen) September 11, 2024
USA Gymnastics argues that it had video evidence showing that Lundy protested 47 seconds after Chiles' score was announced and 13 seconds before the review period ended, leaving the CAS with no time to properly argue its case.
Childs had previously called the decision “unjust.”
“This is a huge blow not only to me but to everyone who has supported me along my journey,” Childs wrote in a post to X on August 15. “What's even more heartbreaking is that the unprovoked racist attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful.”
Nearly a month later, Childs maintains that she and her coach followed the rules and “did absolutely everything right” in the floor exercise.
“I made history and I will continue to make history,” said Chiles, who won gold in the Olympic women's team event.
Chiles, who is returning to UCLA for the upcoming college gymnastics season, was presented with a bronze watch at the VMAs by Flavor Flav, who promised to make one for her after her medals were stripped.
Chills received his bronze watch from Flavor Flav on Wednesday. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for MTV)
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