Simone Biles' decision to have Netflix document her return to the Olympics may end helping teammate Jordan Chiles get back her bronze medal.
Chiles, with the support of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, filed a new appeal Monday with the Swiss Federal Tribunal asking to overturn the controversial ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that stripped her of her third-place finish in the floor routine at the Paris Games.
As part of the filing, Chiles also submitted new video that was taken by a Netflix documentary team filming Simone Biles inside Bercy Arena during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In the new filing, Chiles' lawyers accuse the court violating her "right to be heard" by refusing to consider video evidence that USA Gymnastics says proves the inquiry was submitted on time.
In the new video, Chiles' coach Cecile Landi can be heard requesting a challenge to her score at a time stamp of 47 seconds after the score was first announced. She then repeats the request again at 55 seconds, both within the one-minute time limit.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport, following a hearing requested by Romanian officials, ruled Landi's appeal came 4 seconds beyond the 1-minute time limit for scoring inquiries and recommended the initial finishing order be restored. The International Gymnastics Federation complied and the International Olympic Committee ended up awarding bronze to Romanian Ana Barbosu on Aug. 16.
"There's now video proof, video evidence that shows the inquiry was submitted in time," USA TODAY sports columnist Nancy Armour said on NBC's "TODAY" show. "So I don't know how anyone in good conscience could say 'sorry, you're not the bronze medalist."
The video footage was provided by director Katie Walsh and Religion of Sports, the production company that received special permission to film Biles inside the Olympic arena as part of "Simone Biles: Rising," USA TODAY reports.
Chiles' appeal also argues that Hamid G. Gharavi, president of the CAS panel, has a conflict of interest due to past legal ties to Romania.
USA Gymnastics wrote in a statement Monday night that it made a “collective, strategic decision to have Jordan lead the initial filing. USAG is closely coordinating with Jordan and her legal team and will make supportive filings with the court in the continued pursuit of justice for Jordan.”
The appeal is the next step in what could be a months- or years-long legal battle over the gymnastics scores.
Chiles was last among the eight women to compete during the floor exercise finals initially given a score of 13.666 that placed her fifth, right behind Barbosu and fellow Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea. Landi called for an inquiry on Chiles’ score.
“At this point, we had nothing to lose, so I was like ‘We’re just going to try,’” Landi said after the awards ceremony. “I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen, but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like ‘What?’”
Judges awarded the appeal, leapfrogging Chiles past Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea for the last spot on the podium.
Romanian officials appealed to CAS on several fronts while also asking a bronze medal be awarded to Chiles, Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea. The FIG and the IOC ultimately gave the bronze to Barbosu, who beat her teammate on a tiebreaker because she produced a higher execution score during her routine.
In her first public interview last week, Chiles became emotional as she shared her thoughts on the controversy.
"The biggest thing that was taken from me was," Chiles began at the Forbes Power Women's Summit on Wednesday, "that it was the recognition of who I was. Not just my sport, but the person I am."
The 23-year-old explained she felt that "everything that has gone on is not about the medal, it's about my skin color. It's about the fact that there were things that have led up to this position of being an athlete. And I felt like everything has been stripped."
And despite knowing she was surrounded by so much love and support, it was hard for the Olympian to appreciate it all in the early days of the decision.
"I can feel it now," she continued, "but at first it was really hard to really take that in because of how badly my heart was broken."
