Andscape at the Olympics: Discussing the Jordan Chiles bronze medal gymnastics appeal

[Music] wow this is deep this is the final morning of the game this should be a day we we should be celebrating yeah we you know it's the happiest day the Olympians have done the work they've got to go and I thought we'd be able to escape today without any BS of course not but here we are BS you had you had uh geordan child who had thought she had won the gold medal she had gone from the bronze from Fifth Place C to to the medal stand with a bronze now tell us where we are because clearly that's not the reality I'll walk you back to the individual floor final for women's artistic gymnastics Jordan CH was the final athlete to go she scored she clocked in at 13666 at the end of her routine right uh immediately Simone knew something was wrong because a little bit of context prior for the beam individual final Sunni Simone both had uncharacteristic beams but they were improperly scored based on their execution value okay um but fast forward to floor Jordan Charles went last Notch to 13.66% and there are penalties right no penalties recorded um there were there was no stepping out of bounds for Jordan she performed her routine pretty solid um the execution score was what it was that's not really up for debate that's subjective based on the judges but the difficulty value there's a combination of skills that make up the difficulty value that's calculated together it gives you a set number for the difficulty what happened was the judges did not take into account the full difficulty of the routine and it was one tenth off right so at the 13.66% she's bringing the flag she's stepping up she's happy y right so when so the Romanians are saying that the you the two US coaches were 4 seconds L how many how how much time do you have to appeal every other gymnast has three to four minutes because you have until the next gymnast score clocks in and the final gymnast because Jordan was the final gymnast she had one minute to clock it in to to to see the score make the appeal techn based on technicality right according to Romania we got it in the US got it in at 1 minute and 4 seconds but they appealed it and this this decision from the court of arbitration of sport comes in four to five days after Jordan has received her bronze right so initially the judges got it wrong based on a technicality of the difficulty value right then they said oh you're you're right we're we're we're wrong on this we they corrected it and then 4 days later they're like actually actually you can't appeal this but because the appeal was accepted why is it appropriate to go back right days later and resend that 137 sucess so so how do we make we how do we make this this right you have two two young ladies who are crushed first the Romanian who thought she had won goes up to the podium and then finds out that she had not won so she crushed now Jordan who was happy you were there everybody there she's ecstatic because she got this bronze you know almost nearly a week later she finds out that she's St so my question to you is and just kind of reading this over they saying that well it's up to the ioc now both federations the gymnastics Federation it's up to the I how do we make this right how and naively asked you CU I'm thinking coming over here well maybe both both women should get both scores didn't get bronze but it's a lose lose situation right like nobody wins in this situation because if they let Jordan keep that bronze that bronze is forever tainted if they give Romania the bronze Romania did not earn that based on the score and the actual execution of the routine it is a lose lose situation there is no situation where anybody wins but the damage is done you've seen the online um people are mad at Jordan people are mad at Romania there there's so much anger and and hate being spewed toward Jordan I I I'm pretty tight with her family Gina Charles her mother is heartbroken reading the comments about her um about her daughter Jordan's sisters are are receiving just just hatred and it is is it's showing itself in such an ugly way and if Jordan were to keep the bronze it has such a bad taste but she earned that bronze yeah the the actual routine strip everything all the all the little semantics and nuance out the not even nuances all the little semantics out the way all the arbitration out the way the routine that Jordan put on the floor was the bronze medal scoring routine right period And I understand the emotions involved with Romania thinking they had won but they didn't the appeal based on not valuing the difficulty score is not equivalent to an appeal that is written that's 4 seconds late seconds of turning an appeal for something that was already gotten wrong to me does not equate to the routine being improperly judged no I see what you're saying um but I I guess and again for people I guess what really disturb me was was was just a hatred aimed at Jordan I mean you know you know these these three weeks we're here it's a great Olympic idea we're all together you see the gymnast you see the basketball players you see all the all the participants hugging each other whether they win or they lose and it's kind of not about the Romanian athlete or about Jordan they didn't they did what they were supposed to do this is not about Jordan I I guess I was just disappointed uh in a way we both know that racism exists and it doesn't take a lot to unleash it so I think the sad thing about this for me is what this young lady has had to go through in these 40 just just the hatred the vitri all saying she stole it uh and that's why I'm saying is there any way I know you says lose lose but is there any way any way at all to make this right I mean I kind of putting you in a position of a judge but how do you get out of this this has been such a fantastic how do you get out of this would say I would say that the the technicality of the 4 second appeal can should be dismissed because we accepted the appeal I would take responsibility for that I would say that because the appeal was accepted on the day of and was the routine was re-evaluated and given the score we cannot go back four days later to change it right I don't necessarily believe in a cold bronze because the the performance was what it was right say because Jordan earned Jordan earned the bronze based on the routine she put on the floor yeah that is my final answer if I were a judge in this right however the human in me is like Co bronze let's all be C aesthetic and get along whatever I mean either way I think this is lose lose we see the ugly head that has come um in the form of hate and vital and racism directed towards Jordan uh also it's really sad to look back on because this was the first all black podium in the women's floor final yeah which which it was such a un yeah it was such a unifying moment so to find such little things for seconds yeah four seconds to find and dig and say this cannot be the case is troublesome to me yeah yeah I mean and the and the prime minister of Romania was saying that and this is where the politics get in she was saying that she was not going to come she was going to boycott the closing ceremony so I guess my question is what extent do do politics play in this I mean where is the pressure because all these things anytime you get the all the entire world together it's going to be political anytime you have a lot of governing bodies in one place one sitting and there are incentives behind it it's going to be inherently political um and protesting the closing okay like who cares don't come it it's it's it's I understand the frustration of Romania and I understand how that must feel to think that you receive something and then get it taken away because we see it with Jordan right now like she earned that and it's getting taken away um I stand by the fact that there's no win here um but I do think that the Olympics is inherently political because there are so many governing bodies in one city yeah and to be honest with you and and and and to kind of put a bow on this point that's why historically black folks have always done well in sports where there is no subjectivity you know in basketball Case Closed you know and there's a lot of sports where where where we're involved we thrive in case closed there's no subjectivity my daughter for years was an equestrian and I'm like thinking you know how could you it's too subjective it's too subjective and this is the epitome of that uh so again to kind of to to to put a bow on the discussion I know what you're saying I kind of agree with you that that Jordan and what people understand Jordan earned the bronze medal she should get the bronze medal again the human in me when this thing first unfold you know I'm looking at the perspective of somebody who's got a daughter and how I'm gonna feel and when the Romanian woman the 18-year-old thought she had won and then said oh by the way you have not and that's what I that's what I was saying I was agreeing with you I mean like the human in me is like oh I'll give them both Bruns but the competitor the sport in me is like you earn this the difficulty value was initially wrong right I don't think it's as subjective as people are saying if the skills were within the routine and they are executed without penalty your difficulty value is this value yeah yeah yeah now if it were execution and they were arguing it this would be a completely different discussion but there's a difference between difficulty value which is the skills that are placed in your routine to come up with a score on top of your execution score that's why you don't see perfect tens anymore because it can go to like 16s now like difficulty scores add on to your execution score now if Jordan had a lower execution score and they were like no her execution score would be higher that's something that's you can't be argued in the same way why would you as a country want to accept the bronze knowing that that's not you didn't earn it on Merit the whole thing is unfair the whole thing is unfair I feel it for the Romanian girl I feel it for Jordan I feel it for everybody you talk about tainted bronze and all that but a bronze medal yeah is a bronze medal 50 years from now when you I'm just saying I just I just hope that she knows that she made us so proud with that routine and that Podium made us so proud yeah and so the bronze is forever hers in my eyes right now what comes with that bronze the weight that that bronze carries now because of all of this discussion and debate that's up to her interpretation but I just am so sad that that's something that we have to even consider yeah yeah I just say take the bronze take the bronze take bronze I I got to say you know this is the first time we work together it's been really phenomenal being with you it's just really been tremendous you the hippest thing about this whole thing you are you're the OG the No No you my girl but just tell me how just we we to uh shic we've been through so much stuff uh you're you're out of here first thing in the morning just kind of what's your put your bowl on this whole Olympic experience you know you think that I'm the hippest thing you showed me a little thing or two about Olympics this is my first Olympics this is not your first Go Round And so um I'm just happy to be able to learn from you and Mark and and just share your perspectives a lot of times I'm siloed in the things that I do so to be able to have the community in Paris was great we out here we in Paris you know our people in Paris U but um just witnessing the whole talent in the grand scheme of things just the best of the best in the world in one setting is humbling it's inspiring it gets my creative juices flowing and I just I love this where we can have fun in fellowship and give Jason my eggs and ham I don't eat none of this um but just just knowing that like we have a little family over here in France see you in La see you in La 2028 I don't know how we're going to get around probably not as well as here but at least it's home yeah yeah well you're the best you're the best you are the best you're the best