Celebrities Defend Jordan Chiles Amid Medal Controversy: Simone Biles, Suni Lee & More

Multiple gymnasts and other celebrities came to Jordan's defense after the Court of Arbitration for Sport stripped her of her bronze medal.

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August 12, 2024 3:31PM EDT
Simone Biles, Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles
Image Credit: Getty Images

Jordan Chiles has been stripped of her bronze medal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled. Now that USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee have challenged the ruling, multiple fellow athletes and other celebrities showed their support for the 23-year-old Olympian.

Following the Paris Olympics women’s floor exercise final, Jordan was initially in fifth place. Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu was in third place and celebrated her achievement shortly after the judges posted their original scores. After Jordan’s coach, Cecile Landi, submitted an inquiry regarding the difficulty score that the judges gave Jordan, they placed Jordan into third place. Viewers then witnessed Ana walking away in tears, and online trolls bullied Jordan on social media. The CAS then announced it had taken Jordan’s bronze medal away because her coach allegedly submitted the inquiry four seconds past the allotted time frame, which USAG has contested.

Many fans have defended Jordan on social media. Some have even called for the IOC to give both Jordan and Ana bronze medals.

See which celebrities have come to Jordan’s defense in the wake of the medal debacle.

Simone Biles

Shortly after the news broke, Simone shared a message to her Instagram Stories, writing, “Sending you so much love, Jordan. Keep your chin up, Olympic champ! We love you.”

Suni Lee

Fellow Olympian Suni didn’t hold back in condemning the judges for their mistake via a message she shared to her Instagram Stories.

“All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?? Completely unacceptable,” Suni wrote. “This is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan. I got your back forever Jo. [You] have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an Olympic champion.”

Aly Raisman

The two-time Olympian expressed her heartbreak over Jordan’s medal controversy. According to an X post, Aly tweeted, “Don’t have the words right now. But this is so unacceptable & heartbreaking. No athlete should ever go through this. This is unfair & cruel. Athlete fairness & athlete mental health matters. Athletes should not suffer from mistakes that are out of their control. & the bullying must stop!”

Flavor Flav

Flav wasted no time in sending Jordan positive vibes. While tweeting a GIF of himself dancing at the Olympics, he wrote, “Ayyy YOOOO @ChilesJordan ,,, imma make you a BRONZE CLOCK NECKLACE,,, and that’s something NO ONE else has,!!! Hit me up my girl,,, I gotchu,!!!”