US gymnast Jordan Chiles appeals in Swiss court to reclaim Olympic bronze medal

New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS) Two-time US Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles has filed an appeal in the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland to overturn a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that stripped her of her bronze medal in the women’s gymnastics floor event at the Paris Olympics.

Chiles was initially given the bronze in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics after an appeal over how the judges scored her routine was accepted and she moved up from fifth to third place. However, the Romanian Olympic Committee filed its own appeal with CAS, noting that Team USA’s appeal occurred outside the one-minute time limit to question the judges’ scores.

CAS ruling upheld an appeal by the Romanian Olympic Committee. As a result, the International Olympic Committee then awarded bronze to Romania’s Ana Barbosu. Chiles has now appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland to overturn the decision.

"From start to finish, the procedures leading to the CAS panel’s decision were fundamentally unfair, and it is no surprise that they resulted in an unjust decision," Chiles' attorneys said in a press release.

Her appeal claimed CAS violated Chiles fundamental "right to be heard" by refusing to consider the video evidence that showed her inquiry was submitted on time.

It also alleged a conflict of interest, that Hamid G. Gharavi, the president of the CAS panel has acted as counsel for Romania for almost a decade and was actively representing Romania at the time of the CAS arbitration.

"Shortly after this appeal, Chiles will file an additional petition seeking additional and alternative relief from the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Both briefs could result in a retrial of this matter before CAS in order to allow her -- for the first time -- to prepare a defense and present evidence, including the video footage showing that her coach’s scoring inquiry was submitted on time," it added.

"Jordan Chiles’ appeals present the international community with an easy legal question—will everyone stand by while an Olympic athlete who has done only the right thing is stripped of her medal because of fundamental unfairness in an ad-hoc arbitration process? The answer to that question should be no,” Maurice M. Suh, counsel for Chiles quoted as saying by CNN.

“Every part of the Olympics, including the arbitration process, should stand for fair play,” Suh added.

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