The decision meant thatAna Barbosuof Romania had her bronze medal figuratively “snatched” from her hands, and it was awardedinsteadto the US athlete, leaving Ana in tears and dropping her flag on the ground.
HighlightsJudges accepted Team USA’s appeal, awarding Jordan Chiles the bronze over Romania’s Ana Barbosu.Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea both scored 13.700, but Voinea had 100 points deducted for a disputed boundary fault.Sabrina Voinea unofficially announced her retirement due to the decision, with Romanian officials contacting the International Gymnastics Federation.
The original scores were close, with Barbosu’s 13.700 granting her a small lead ahead of Chiles’ 13.666. After the corrective measure was taken,Chilesgained another 100 points, securing her the bronze medal.
Far from remaining still, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee quickly moved to submit a request for a review of the decision-making factors behind the correction while also arguing that another one of their athletes got unjustly penalized during the competition.
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Romania moves to appeal controversial Olympic judges’ decision to award Team USA’s Jordan Chiles the bronze medal ahead of two of their athletes
Image credits:jordanchiles
The Romanian team had both Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea score 13.700 points at the end of the event. The latter, however, had 100 points deducted from her performance seemingly due to her stepping out of bounds during her routine.
“I don’t see the heel touching down.. do you?” she continued, and she shared a video of Voinea’s routine, where she was seen coming close to the bounds but not actually touching them.
If theRomanianteam’s appeal is accepted and the score reverted, Voinea’s original 13.800 points would put her comfortably ahead ofTeam USA’sChiles, awarding her the bronze medal.
The affected gymnast has unofficially announced her retirement following the decision, with Romanian officials reaching out to the International Gymnastics Federation as a result
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Image credits:ana_barbosu
“Sabrina did not leave the mat for any acrobatic line, she deserves a medal! We will not dedicate ourselves togymnasticsanymore, no one is fighting for our rights!” the post read.
“We love everyone who has supported us to this point but this is more than we can take!”
Image credits:sabrina_voinea_alexia
“With respect to Olympic values, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee respectfully requests you to re-analyze the decision making factors of the case of the Romanian athlete Sabrina Maneca Voinea regarding the score given to the execution of the exercise in the floor final,” the letter began.
“[Voinea’s] public declaration to give up practicing this sport as a result of today’s decision morally obliges the decision-makers to reanalyze, substantiate and communicate the final decision,” the letter concluded.Lei RV
Renan Duarte
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