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Footage from Netflix’s Simone Biles documentary reveals mistakes made at the Paris Olympics
Thanks to Netflix’s Simone Biles documentary, Jordan Chiles may win her Olympic medal appeal, though. Court documents released Monday reportedly show that video footage utilized in Chiles’ ongoing bronze medal appeal comes from Katie Walsh and Religion Sports, the director and production company behind the docuseries “Simone Biles: Rising.”
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chiles was awarded the bronze medal when her coach, Cecile Landi, filed an appeal in court. However, shortly thereafter, the Team USA gymnast “suffered a major blow” when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned her coach’s initial appeal, saying it got here 4 seconds after the one-minute closing date for submitting scoring inquiries. In affirming the court’s ruling, the International Olympic Committee re-awarded the bronze medal to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu.
“I am speechless,” Chiles said in response to the ruling. “This decision seems unfair and is a major blow not only to me but to everyone who has supported my journey. To add to this heartbreaking pain, the unjustified racial attacks on social media are wrong and incredibly hurtful. I put my heart and soul into this sport and I am proud to represent my culture and my country.”
“We won’t let this go so easily and we will continue to look for video footage and other things,” Landi said at the time, USA Today reports.
As Chiles and US Gymnastics begin the means of appealing the court’s decision, the footage could prove to be a lifesaver. It reportedly shows Landi filing her appeal in the courtroom inside 60 seconds. According to USA Today, Landi will be heard saying “Inquiry for Jordan” exactly 49 seconds after the results were announced on the tape. She reportedly repeated the same phrase before the 60 seconds had elapsed.
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Despite accepting the investigation at this time, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation’s appeal rested largely on the claim that Team USA’s motion was filed too late. Now, US Gymnastics first flagged the video in August and submitted the evidence to CAS the day after the ruling. However, the court denied the motion, saying no evidence was added after their decision.
“This shows it was done!!” the Olympian’s mother, Gina Chiles, wrote on Facebook on August 11, in keeping with USA today“I keep listening to this. They didn’t even try to find the facts!!! That’s clear. That shows it was sent in time.”
So on September 16, Chiles’ team filed a proper appeal to the Swiss Federal Court of Justice against the CAS ruling, including the footage and noting that CAS didn’t accept it. The recent court documents also highlighted other errors that occurred during the legal proceedings, similar to the failure of US Gymnastics’ parties to share information and sending emails to incorrect addresses.
Footage from the docuseries also revealed that Olympic judges did not heed an investigation that would have led to Biles winning one other gold medal at a world competition. While the footage shows that Coach Landi’s investigation into Biles’ scoring went unheeded, the 11-time Olympic medalist is unconcerned about the mistake.
“Honestly, it’s not a big deal to me, Rebecca had a better floor anyway 🫶🏾 it’s annoying that it wasn’t processed, but I’m not mad at the results,” Biles wrote on X. “BUT JUSTICE FOR JORDAN, do you hear me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”