The head of a panel that ruled that the American gymnast Jordan Chiles had to give up her Olympic bronze medal in favor of a Romanian athlete has represented Romania for almost a decade in arbitration cases, documents show.
The three members of a special tribunal convened for the Olympics by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after Romania lodged a complaint ruled that a successful appeal made by Chiles’s coach over the points awarded to her in the floor exercise competition was initiated four seconds late. The Romanian athlete, Ana Barbosu, was awarded the bronze medal as a result of the panel’s decision, and Chiles was dropped to fifth place.