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Olympic gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu officially received her disputed bronze medal in a ceremony held on Friday in Bucharest, Romania.
Barbosu was awarded the Olympic floor exercise bronze medal after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped American Jordan Chiles of hers.
Chiles had been awarded the bronze medal during the Paris Olympic Games after Ana Barbosu was originally scored in third place, but was then changed to Chiles after a re-evaluation of the American’s score and her degree of difficulty.
Jordan Chiles ended up receiving the bronze medal during a ceremony at the Paris Olympics, but later the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) cancelled the re-evaluation of Chiles’ score because it claimed the U.S. gymnastics team lodged their protest four seconds after the regulatory deadline of one minute.
Now, after Friday’s medal ceremony in Barbosu’s hometown of Foscani, both Chiles and Barbosu each have a bronze Olympic medal in their possession because the American has yet to return her award.
O momento em que Ana Barbosu recebe sua medalha de bronze!
Ela e Sabrina também ganharam, assim como os outros medalhistas romenos, um carro Hyundai Bayon personalizado, além de seguro de vida e plano de saúde pelos próximos 4 anos. pic.twitter.com/DwWoccsUAz
— Sisi • Esportes Olímpicos 🛹 (@sisiesportes) August 16, 2024
“I can’t help but think about Sabrina and Jordan right now,” NBC Sports reports Barbosu said at the ceremony, referring to her Romanian teammate Sabrina Menca-Voinea and Chiles. “It’s a difficult situation for us, with so many uncertainties and overwhelming emotions. I hope everyone understands that we have not done anything wrong at the Olympics. And that the Olympic spirit is more important than any misunderstanding between authorities.
“I want to believe that the day will come when all three of us will receive a bronze medal each.”
Maneca-Voinea would have won the bronze had the judges not incorrectly penalized her for going out of bounds, but she did not submit an inquiry to challenge the deduction. Or, at least we think she would have. It’s all been so very confusing.