The International Olympic Committee announced Thursday morning that Romania has been authorized to award gymnast Ana Barbosu a bronze medal, paving the way for a medal ceremony planned by Romanian officials on Friday amid the ongoing global sports controversy.

“The adjusted ranking by the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) is based on a binding final CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) ruling,” the IOC stated in an email to USA TODAY Sports. “Although an appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court remains possible, the CAS ruling is immediately enforceable, allowing Ms. Barbosu to receive the bronze medal.”

Sources familiar with the situation informed USA TODAY Sports that American gymnast Jordan Chiles, who is currently in the United States, still holds the bronze medal she was awarded for the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics.

U.S. officials have indicated that there are no plans for Jordan Chiles to return the bronze medal, as they intend to appeal the decision due to what the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) described as “significant procedural errors” by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The anticipated appeal would likely be directed to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

In a statement released Wednesday night, the USOPC highlighted that from August 6-9, “CAS sent critical communications to incorrect email addresses at USOPC and USA Gymnastics (USAG), an error that wasn’t rectified until August 9—three days after the filing, two days beyond the deadline for submitting objections, and less than 24 hours before the hearing. This error deprived us of sufficient time to respond effectively or gather necessary evidence. We promptly informed CAS of our objections.”

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Since then, U.S. officials have presented time-stamped video evidence showing that the U.S. appeal of Jordan Chiles’ score was filed 47 seconds after the score was issued, well within the one-minute deadline — not four seconds late, as claimed during the CAS hearing. Despite this clear evidence, CAS stated that it could not reopen the case, even though the video conclusively demonstrated that Chiles was indeed entitled to the bronze medal. “Our objections have now been validated by new evidence, revealing administrative errors by FIG and mishandlings by CAS, which could not have been addressed during the rushed hearing. In essence, we were denied a fair chance to be heard,” the USOPC stated.

Amid this growing controversy, U.S. and Romanian officials proposed awarding bronze medals to both Chiles and Barbosu, but the FIG rejected the idea. Consequently, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee is proceeding independently with its decision.

The urgency to hold a medal ceremony for Ana Barbosu sharply contrasts with the prolonged handling of the Kamila Valieva doping scandal. In that case, international sports organizations and anti-doping agencies took so long to resolve the matter that the U.S. and Japanese figure skating teams only received their gold and silver medals at the Paris Summer Olympics—2½ years after their competition concluded at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

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