PARIS — When the last score was announced in the women’s floor exercise final Monday, Ana Barbosu of Romania leaped onto the floor with her country’s flag and started jumping down in celebration. And Jordan Chiles was deflated, thinking she had missed out on the podium.
Then, in seconds, their moods flipped − and a distraught Barbosu dropped her Romanian flag on the ground.
Chiles leapfrogged Barbosu to win a stunning bronze medal on floor at the 2024 Paris Olympics after her coaches successfully challenged a minor scoring decision made by the judges, boosting her to third place from fifth. It gave the 23-year-old the first individual Olympic medal of her career, in incredibly dramatic fashion.
‘I was so tired, I didn’t even realize my coaches put an inquiry in,’ Chiles said. ‘And I was like, ‘OK yeah, let’s see.’ It can vary. So when it came through, I was very proud of myself.’
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
Chiles’ original score on floor exercise was 13.666, while left her just shy of Barbosu’s 13.700. But after her coaches, Cecile and Laurent Landi, submitted what is known as an inquiry about her score, it went up to 13.766.
Cecile Landi said the inquiry revolved around what is called a tour jeté full − essentially a split leap.
‘Today (she was) a little sloppy on the landing. But at this point, we had nothing to lose so I was like ‘we’re just going to try,’ ‘ Cecile explained. ‘I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like ‘What?’ ‘
Rebeca Andrade of Brazil took a surprising gold medal in the event, while Simone Biles settled for silver.
How gymnastics scores work
The scores in gymnastics comprise of two separate pieces: A difficulty score and an execution score.
The execution score, or E score, it out of a maximum of 10 points, with judges taking deductions for each misplaced hand or slight wobble on a landing. The difficulty score, or D score, is completely reliant upon the difficulty of the skills that each gymnast does throughout their routine.
This means that some athletes, like Biles, often walk into competitions with a built-in cushion because they are doing more difficult skills. And it puts more pressure on gymnasts with lower D scores to absolutely nail their planned elements.
Why Jordan Chiles’ score changed on floor
During a routine, like Chiles’ on floor exercise, judges are keeping track of each skill or element that the gymnast completes. Each one is worth a certain point value, adding to the D score.
After the score is announced, a gymnast’s coach − who obviously knows all of the planned elements in the routine, and what that D score should be − can then choose to challenge the D score by submitting what is officially called an ‘inquiry.’ The coach basically asks why a specific skill was not credited, and sometimes that can lead to an improved score after the initial one is announced.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
Chiles’ initial D score on floor exercise Monday was 5.8, which left her just fractionally behind Barbosu. But after the routine, the Landis submitted an inquiry with the judging panel about that one leaping element. And it worked.
‘I was not confident, but what do you have to lose?’ Laurent Landi said. ‘She was out of the podium already, so even if they dropped the score, it couldn’t have been worse, you know? We tried.
‘I was at the same angle as the judge and I felt (her tour jeté full) was way better than all the other meets than she’s done, so what the heck? We may as well try.’
Chiles’ execution score was not changed as a result of the inquiry, but the D score went up by one tenth of a point, to 5.9. And that was enough to give her a bronze.
Jordan Chiles’ reaction to winning bronze on floor
The inquiry made a small difference in Chiles’ score but ultimately helped her achieve her goal of winning an individual medal.
Although she won team silver and gold at the past two Games, Chiles had not qualified for an individual final before this one. Though no fault of her own, mind you. Chiles was unlucky not to be included in both the all-around and vault finals after an extremely strong performance in qualifying.
Chiles placed fourth in both the all-around and vault in qualifying. But because Biles and Suni Lee both finished ahead of her in the all-around, and Biles and Jade Carey were ahead of her on vault, Chiles was excluded by a rule that limits the field to just two gymnasts per country.
Chiles has said she is not a fan of that rule, but at least she had a chance at her own medal Monday.
‘I’m on cloud nine,’ she told reporters. ‘This is my first-ever (Olympic) individual event (apparatus) final, at my second Olympics. I have no words.’
Where some athletes might have sulked or scaled back, Cecile Landi said, Chiles continued coming to practice and working hard in preparation for Monday.
‘She loves floor, so I think qualifying on floor really helped her keep her chin up,’ she said. ‘I’m glad she didn’t give up. And it paid off today.’
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.