Jordan Chiles gives first interview after losing Olympic bronze medal

• Jordan Chiles was interviewed for the first time about the withdrawal of her Olympic bronze medal
• The gymnast said she struggled with the decision and believes it had more to do with her “skin color” than her merits.
• Chiles said she had lost her “love for sport” after the verdict

Jordan Chiles spoke emotionally about her experience at the Paris Olympics in her first interview since being stripped of her bronze medal.

The 23-year-old Olympian spoke candidly at the Forbes Power Women's Summit on Wednesday, September 11, where she was asked about the controversial decision to strip her of her bronze medal in the floor exercise final and award it to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu.

“The most important thing that was taken from me was the recognition of who I am. Not just my sport, but the person I am,” Chiles said. “For me, everything that happened is not about the medal, but about the color of my skin.”

Chiles said she felt “like everything had been taken away from her” amid the complicated back-and-forth of petitions and appeals between the Romanian and American Olympic Committees, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).

“I felt like I lost and lost love with the sport in 2018,” Chiles revealed, adding, “I felt like I was really left in the dark.”

The gymnast said the ordeal reminded her of the situation in 2018 “when I was dealing with a coach who was emotionally and verbally abusing me,” which made it difficult for Chiles to stand up for herself.

“I didn't have the opportunity to use my voice or to be heard, and that's one of the things I feel now in this situation: that I couldn't be heard,” she continued at the summit.

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“I made history and I will continue to make history, something I rightly did. I followed the rules, my coach followed the rules,” Chiles said, referring to the claim that her coach, Cecile Landi, submitted the appeal that resulted in Chiles changing her score and finishing in third place four seconds late. USA Gymnastics has denied this, saying they have evidence the appeal was made in a timely manner.

“I feel like they just took all that away because they were left in the dark and just tried to put the name 'gymnastics' in front of it,” Chiles added.

Fans were upset by CAS's decision to strip Chile's medal, but the gymnast admitted it was “really hard to really feel all the love and support” while she struggled with her feelings about the decision.

“I can feel it now, but at first it was really hard to fully comprehend because my heart was so broken,” Chiles said.

“It all happened so fast. But I'm grateful to every single person who came forward and said what they had to say, whether it was through social media, whether it was through news outlets, whether it was just people texting me. I'm so grateful for that and I don't think I would be sitting up here right now talking to everyone if everyone hadn't been by my side and really recognized what the right thing was,” she concluded.