LeBron James Shows Support for Jordan Chiles After IOC Rules She Must Return Medal

Team USA star LeBron James showed his support for Jordan Chiles after the International Olympic Committee ruled the American gymnast has to return the bronze medal she received in the individual floor exercise.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport determined that Chiles' coach, Cecile Landi, missed the window to appeal her score after her performance. As a result, her score was reverted to its original tally, 13.666, putting her fifth in the field.

Romania's Ana Bărbosu is now recognized as the bronze medal winner.

USA Gymnastics released a statement Saturday saying it was "devastated" by the CAS' decision. The organization also cited "consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media" that had been directed at Chiles.

The 23-year-old said she's "removing myself from social media" for the time being to focus on her mental health.

At issue was Chiles' difficulty score for her floor routine. Following a review, the judges added 0.1 to her score, and that was enough to catapult her ahead of Bărbosu and fellow Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.

However, the CAS found that Landi filed the appeal four seconds after the deadline, so the original finishing order was restored.

The governing body allowed the IOC to determine how the medals would be distributed, which seemingly left the door open for both Bărbosu and Chiles to receive bronze.

The outcome is likely to be unsatisfactory for all involved.

Chiles has to relinquish a medal she thought she won. Bărbosu was denied the opportunity to stand on the podium alongside Brazil's Rebeca Andrade and the United States' Simone Biles. Romania lodged an appeal on Maneca-Voinea's behalf as well after she was deducted 0.1 points for stepping out of bounds, only for replays to show she stayed inside the line. The CAS denied that part of the Romanian federation's appeal.

Chiles still has a gold medal in the team competition to show for her performance in Paris, but the controversy over the floor exercise will cast a large shadow over her 2024 Summer Games.