Gymnast Ana Barbosu addressed being bumped down from winning bronze at the 2024 Olympics due to Jordan Chiles‘ routine being reevaluated.
Barbosu, 18, took to her Instagram Story on Monday, August 5, to share a video of her during the women’s gymnastics floor final, writing, “Thank you to everyone who encouraged me before, during, and after the competition.”
The Romanian gymnast also reposted a statement from retired Olympian Sandra Izbasa-Bianca.
“I hear more vividly than ever the words that the coaches repeated to us almost daily in the training room,” Izbasa-Bianca wrote in Romanian about the country’s gymnastics team. “‘You, as Romanians, must be more than perfect in order not to leave room for interpretations!’ And here, it proves itself once again! Girls, head up and back straight! Keep believing in your dreams! Go Romania!”
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Barbosu’s response came after the world watched her end the floor final with a score of 13.700. She walked away from the competition on Monday with a bronze win — but that didn’t last long. After Team USA entered a score inquiry for Chiles’ routine, she went from 13.600 to 13.766. Chiles, 23, was ultimately bumped up from fourth to third place after her tour jeté full was factored into her score.
Footage from the competition showed Barbosu waving the Romanian flag as the change went into effect. She subsequently looked back at the scoreboard to see Chiles joining gold winner Rebeca Andrade and silver winner Simone Biles. Barbosu walked off in tears before being comforted by one of her coaches.
Chiles weighed in on her new score, telling reporters, “I just wanted to come out and do the best I could. I have no words — I’m just very proud of myself.”
During a separate interview, Biles, 27, gushed over Andrade, 25, after bowing to her at the podium. “I have such respect for her,” she noted. “She’s such a good competitor.”
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Meanwhile, Laurie Hernandez, who is providing commentary for NBC and Peacock about the Paris Olympics, explained why a reevaluation is more common than viewers might think.
“That’s why inquiries happen,” she said on a livestream. “Sometimes, they do miss it, and they’re able to go back and double check.”
Chiles also recently opened up about how the deaths of her aunt and grandfather last year inspired her to keep pushing herself ahead of the Olympics.
“The moment that I truly dug deep into my thoughts of being like, ‘OK, Jordan, what are you doing?’ I would probably say after Pan Ams,” Chiles told Olympics.com in an interview on Monday. “I was like, ‘What are you doing? You came out to Pan Ams, had no training, didn’t really do that well all year and you’re still on podiums, doing everything that you’re doing.’”
