Simone Biles leads social media support for Jordan Chiles after losing Olympic bronze medal

After American gymnast Jordan Chiles was stripped of her bronze medal — a decision the United States has said it will appeal — her teammates, including Simone Biles, and others in the sports world criticized the Olympics' decision.

Fellow gymnast Suni Lee shared her disappointment with the Olympic judges on Instagram Stories. She wrote: “All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges? It’s completely unacceptable. This is horrible and I feel devastated for Jordan.”

“I'll have your back forever, Jo,” he added.[You] Have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an Olympic champion.💐”

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chiles won a bronze medal in the individual floor exercise, while Biles won silver. Chiles initially placed fifth until her coach submitted a query about her score, prompting the judges to revise her routine and change her score. Her new score edged out Romania's Ana Barbosu for third place and earned her a spot on the podium alongside Biles and Brazil's Rebeca Andrade, the gold medalist.

However, the Romanian team has appealed the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the hope that Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea's original scores will be reinstated.

Because Chiles' coach submitted his query outside the one-minute timeframe allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation, the tribunal ultimately overturned Chiles' scoring change. The change was announced on August 10, prompting Chiles to quickly announce that she would be taking a break from social media amid the controversy.

“I’m taking this time and stepping away from social media for my mental health, thank you,” she wrote on her Instagram story. Her teammates have since expressed their support amid the difficult news and have taken to social media platforms like Instagram to share their kind words.

Several famous faces have criticised the decision to strip Chile of its medal.

“Sending you so much love, Jordan,” Biles wrote in an Instagram post that included a photo of the two gymnasts hugging. “Keep your chin up, Olympic champion! We love you!”

NBA champion and fellow Olympian LeBron James also subtly expressed his support for Chiles with a series of emojis, including an infinity symbol, a brown heart and an American flag, while commenting on a Post shared on Xformerly known as Twitter, the official Team USA account. The caption reads: “Forever THAT girl.”

Fans were also outraged for Chiles, taking to Instagram comments to share their support for the gymnast. Many pointed out that Barbosu and Chiles would have been perfectly fine sharing the bronze medal.

“Both women should get the medal,” wrote one social media user. “This is beyond ridiculous.”

Another added: “The athletes and their respective countries were in agreement to share the bronze, I have no idea why they made this decision.”