PARIS — Make no mistake, Jordan Chiles won a bronze medal in the floor final Monday because of her talent and work ethic.
It is also, however, because an eagle-eyed coach thought she saw a mistake in the judges' scoring and — in a unique-to-gymnastics way — was willing to gamble $351.10 of USA Gymnastics' money to find out if she was correct.
When Chiles’ initial score in the floor final flashed across the screen, disappointment overwhelmed the gymnast. Her 13.666 left her in fifth place and off the podium for the individual medal that Chiles had long worked toward.