The score popped in, and it was good enough for fifth.
It seemed Jordan Chiles was out of luck for an individual medal.
But then, a judging error was noticed. Team USA inquired about the score, and before she knew it, Chiles had done it.
Chiles – the two-season UCLA gymnastics phenom – notched the bronze medal in the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. After her score was changed, Chiles landed a 13.766 – just four-tenths from Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade’s top spot.
Chiles was the ninth athlete to perform in the final, saving her Beyoncé-themed routine for last. Before she saluted the floor, a score higher than a 13.700 would clinch the bronze medal. In her previous two floor routines at the Olympic Games, Chiles earned scores that would have put her in that echelon.
Even before Chiles began her routine, history was in the making.
For the first time in Simone Biles’ career, she failed to take the top spot on the floor in a major international competition. Six-tenths were knocked off of Biles’ score because of out-of-bounds penalties, resulting in a 14.133, only 0.033 short of the gold medal. Since 2013, Biles has won every World and Olympic floor final she has competed in.
Rebeca Andrade – the most decorated Brazilian Olympian of all time – scored a 14.166 to edge out Biles and take the gold medal.
Andrade and Biles led the field following their performances. Romania’s Ana Barbosu sat in third after winning a tiebreaker against teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.
The pressure was on for Chiles in her final chance for an individual Olympic medal.
Chiles began her routine with a full twisting double layout, an H-rated skill in the code of points, adding eight-tenths of difficulty to her routine. The skill lacked full rotation, causing Chiles to recoil up on the landing uncharacteristically. Despite what could have been a larger mistake, the former Bruin minimized deductions by quickly saluting to finish the skill.
Chiles continued to electrify the crowd as she progressed through her routine, choreographed by UCLA assistant coach BJ Das. For Chiles’ dance combination pass, she performed a switch leap to a tour jeté full. In her two previous attempts, Chiles failed to receive credit for the skill during her routine, resulting in a 5.8 difficulty score. But if the skill gets credited in Chiles’ routine, the full start value is a 5.9.
The Vancouver, Washington, local finished her routine with a double layout but lacked full rotation, resulting in a low chest position and a step forward on the landing. With a 13.700 the threshold for a medal, Chiles’ initial 13.666 score put her in fifth place.
Immediately, the top three finishers began celebrating. Barbosu thought she had clinched Romania’s first Olympic gymnastics medal since 2012 and posed with her country’s flag in front of the entourage of photographers.
But when Chiles was awarded a difficulty score of 5.8, she inquired to the judging panel.
Her difficulty score was raised to 5.9, thereby increasing her score to a 13.766 and granting her a place on the podium.
Chiles flew into the air with excitement upon realizing she had clinched her first individual Olympic medal.
Chiles’ floor routine concluded the artistic gymnastics final in Paris. Following a team silver at the Tokyo Olympics and two medals in Paris, Chiles is officially the most decorated Olympian in UCLA gymnastics history, passing 2016 Olympic champion Madison Kocian in medal count.
But the Bruin standout may not be done just yet. Chiles still has two years of NCAA eligibility remaining and has hinted toward a return to Westwood.
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