Jordan Chiles is taking a break from social media following a surprising decision at the Olympics that saw her bronze medal stripped.
Her sister, Jazmin, is speaking out against the racist comments directed at Jordan online.
Jazmin shared a heartfelt Instagram story, urging people to keep Jordan and their family in their thoughts. She criticized the decision to remove Jordan’s medal, highlighting that it wasn’t due to any fault of Jordan’s performance but rather due to an error by the judges.
“They took her medal not because she wasn’t good enough, but because the judges made a mistake,” Jazmin wrote. “Her bronze was taken away over four seconds that wouldn’t have happened if the judges had done their job properly.”
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found that the judges had improperly allowed an inquiry into Jordan’s difficulty score outside the allowable timeframe. As a result, Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea were awarded the bronze and fourth place, pushing Chiles to fifth.
The U.S. Olympic Committee plans to appeal the decision. This ruling also meant that the chance for a historic all-black Olympic gymnastics podium was lost, as Simone Biles won silver and Brazilian Rebecca Andrade took gold.
Jazmin emphasized that Jordan’s medal was not stripped due to cheating or doping, stating that racism has played a role in the negative reactions online, even though she does not believe it is the root cause of the medal loss.
“I’m not saying racism caused the medal being taken away, but the racist messages she’s been receiving need to stop,” Jazmin wrote on X.
Teammate Suni Lee also expressed her frustration, calling the decision unacceptable and voicing her support for Jordan.
Jordan Chiles shared her feelings on Instagram with broken heart emojis, announcing she would be stepping away from social media for her mental health.