At the Sydney Olympics, Andreea Raducan of Romania was stripped of her All-Around gold medal due to cough medicine; specifically two pills of Sudafed given to her by a team doctor that in no way affected her performance.
She was exonerated of any wrong doing, but still, nearly a quarter century later, has not had her gold medal returned.
This, as I’ve stated before, is a horrendous miscarriage of justice. I openly reject this clearly egregious error by the IOC and FIG, and consider Raducan the rightful All-Around champion of the Sydney Olympics and will continue to do so whether those in charge come to their senses or not.
In that same spirit, Chiles is my official bronze medal champion on the floor exercise for the 2024 Paris Olympics and will remain so regardless of what a committee has decided nearly a week after the fact.
Romania throwing a collective conniption fit for the last 5 days, even having their President threaten to boycott the closing ceremonies over a perceived slight is totally contrary to the spirit of the games. To reward them for that behavior with the flimsiest shield of a technicality is spineless and cowardly. Chiles’ difficulty score was misjudged and corrected at the meet in real time according to FIG rules; she quite plainly had the more difficult and better executed routine, and is therefore the rightful owner of the bronze medal that she earned.
It is unfortunate Barbosu had already started celebrating Romania’s first women’s gymnastics medal since the London games when the score was changed, and I felt for her in the moment and admonished the clumsy way it was handled. But any sympathy I had for her, Romania, and their once great program evaporated when they decided to complain their way into a freaking bronze medal on floor. Romania’s legacy in the sport is far far greater than that. Compelling Nadia Comenci to use her star power and influence to help wrestle back the shallowest of accolades in a gambit to declare their gymnastics program officially back from the wilderness is beneath them, beneath all of us, and beneath the Olympic Games.
Barbosu and Voinea getting medals is a nice story for Romania.
Chiles earning her spot on that podium became an inspiring story for the world and gave us one of the most iconic moments of these or any other games in history.
This picture is more than Biles and Chiles giving Andrade her due respect in Chiles’ endearingly ridiculous and over the top manner. It is the current dominate juggernaut of the sport demonstrating humility and reverence for a victorious opponent. It is the United States - the world’s favorite target of ire for being obnoxiously arrogant, self-centered, and toxically obsessed with winning - showing the ability and eagerness to celebrate the triumphs of others. It is the greatest gymnast the world has ever known giving her closest rival the spotlight. It is women who cannot speak each other’s language communicating with magnificence. It is a woman born in a slum being shown the highest honor from the richest and most powerful nation on earth. And yes, it is the first all black podium in Olympics gymnastics history.
And it only happened because Chiles earned her way on that podium.
It is also the three highest scoring gymnasts on floor that night.
And Romanian tarnished all of that because they think the score was updated a few seconds too late.
As far as I’m concerned, they’ve managed to tarnish their own otherwise stellar legacy along with it.
Hope that bronze medal was worth it.
The three women pictured above will wave to you at the Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy awards ceremony.