A crew filmed Simone Biles at Olympics. Netflix doc may help Jordan Chiles get bronze medal back

Jordan Chiles, right, celebrates with her bronze medal in the floor exercise while standing next to silver medalist and U.S. teammate Simone Biles during the Paris Olympics on Aug. 5.
(Francisco Seco / Associated Press)

U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles is looking to overturn a decision that stripped her of her first individual Olympic medal.

Video footage shot for the Netflix docuseries “Simone Biles Rising” might help her do it.

Attorneys for Chiles filed an appeal Monday to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland looking to reverse a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that named Ana Barbosu of Romania the bronze medalist in the floor exercise last month at the Paris Games.

Chiles had been awarded the medal Aug. 5 after an inquiry by her coach Cecile Landi resulted in the judges improving Chiles’ score, which lifted the UCLA gymnast from her initial fifth-place ranking to third place. It led to a historic moment, with gold medalist Rebeca Andrade, silver medalist Biles and Chiles making up the first all-Black gymnastics podium in Olympics history.

But days later, following a hearing requested by Romanian officials, the CAS ruled that Landi’s inquiry missed the one-minute time window by four seconds, leading the International Olympic Committee to award the bronze to Barbosu and move Chiles back to fifth place.

USA Gymnastics immediately appealed the decision to the CAS, submitting video evidence that was said to show that Landi’s inquiry came 47 seconds after Chiles’ score was published. That appeal was denied.

The footage was submitted as evidence to the Swiss court Monday, with Chiles’ attorney noting in the filing that it came from “Simone Biles Rising” director Katie Walsh and production company Religion of Sports. Walsh and her team had been on hand in Paris to film Biles’ Olympic journey for the second part of the series — and they also ended up capturing footage key to Chiles’ case.

According to the court document, which was filed in German, Walsh reached out to Landi to express her support after the Chiles decision. Landi inquired if the director had any footage of what had transpired following Chiles’ floor performance and ended up receiving a video that contained footage from the three cameras Religion of Sport had at the event, as well as from NBC’s live broadcast and a running clock.

Religion of Sports and Chiles’ attorney, Maurice Suh, did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

According to the court document, the video shows Landi heading to the judges table 47 seconds after Chiles’ score was displayed. Two seconds later, the filing states, Landi can be heard making a verbal objection while a technical assistant can be seen making eye contact with her and acknowledging the objection was received. Landi verbalized the objection at least one more time before the 60-second limit had expired.

In a statement Monday, Suh said that Chiles’ “right to be heard” was violated when the CAS refused to allow the video evidence. He also alleges “a serious conflict of interest” with Hamid G. Gharavi, the head of the CAS panel that handled Chiles’ case, was also representing Romania as a lawyer at the time of the hearing.

Chiles and Biles are among the gymnasts appearing in the Gold Across America Tour, which stops at Crypto.com Arena on Friday.

According to the court document, the video shows Landi heading to the judges table 47 seconds after Chiles’ score was displayed. Two seconds later, the filing states, Landi can be heard making a verbal objection while a technical assistant can be seen making eye contact with her and acknowledging the objection was received. Landi verbalized the objection at least one more time before the 60-second limit had expired.

In a statement Monday, Suh said that Chiles’ “right to be heard” was violated when the CAS refused to allow the video evidence. He also alleges “a serious conflict of interest” with Hamid G. Gharavi, the head of the CAS panel that handled Chiles’ case, was also representing Romania as a lawyer at the time of the hearing.

Chiles and Biles are among the gymnasts appearing in the Gold Across America Tour, which stops at Crypto.com Arena on Friday.