A final ruling has been made on whether or not Jordan Chiles will have her Olympic bronze medal returned to her after a controversial decision saw her forced to give it back.
Chiles, 23, had been given her first ever individual Olympic medal - a bronze in the floor final - on August 5 after she had originally finished in fifth place based on the judges' scores.
However, USA Gymnastics' coach Cecile Landi had quickly submitted an inquiry into the decision, claiming that Chiles had been underscored for difficulty, specifically for a leap that involved performing a split in the air while turning 540 degrees.
Her appeal was successful and the judges boosted Chiles's score from 13.666 to 13.766, making her take the third-place spot over Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who both scored 13.700.
The Romanian Olympic committee had appealed the decision one day later, and it was later confirmed that a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) judge had ruled that Landi had submitted her initial inquiry within 1 minute and 4 seconds - which was four seconds too late for it to count.
Chiles was then forced to give back her bronze medal, which was awarded to Barbosu instead.
However, USA Gymnastics then appealed the decision, providing "conclusive" evidence that their initial inquiry was well within the 60-second limit.
Despite this, the CAS upheld its ruling, according to reports from the New York Times, meaning Chiles will not have the bronze medal returned to her.
USA Gymnastics said in a statement: "USA Gymnastics was notified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday that their rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented.
"We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure that just scoring, placement and medal award for Jordan."
Barbosu shared her support for Chiles and Menca-Voinea after the decision, writing on her Instagram story: "Sabrina, Jordan, my thoughts are with you. I know what you are feeling, because I’ve been through the same. But I know you’ll come back stronger.
"I hope from deep of my heart that at the next Olympics, all three of us will share the same podium. This is my true dream!"
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