CNN
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Jordan Chiles has filed an appeal against the decision that stripped the U.S. gymnast of her Olympic bronze medal, her lawyers announced Monday.
Chiles was stripped of her first individual Olympic medal after the Romanian gymnastics team challenged a decision to revise her final score in the floor exercise at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The CAS ultimately upheld the challenge, meaning the American star's bronze medal went to Romania's Ana Borbosu.
Chiles has now opted to appeal the CAS decision to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland – where CAS is based.
“From start to finish, the processes leading up to the CAS panel's decision were fundamentally unfair, and it is no surprise that they resulted in an unjust judgment,” Chiles' lawyers said in a press release.
His lawyers argue that CAS violated Chiles' “right to be heard” by “refusing to consider video evidence that demonstrated that their investigation was submitted timely,” and that Chiles was not properly informed that the chairman of the CAS panel might have a conflict of interest.
“Jordan Chiles' appeal poses a simple legal question for the international community – will everyone stand idly by when an Olympic athlete who did the right thing is stripped of his medal due to fundamental unfairness in an ad hoc arbitration process? The answer to that question must be 'no,'” said Chiles' attorney, Maurice M. Suh.
“Every part of the Olympics needs to be fair, including the arbitration process,” Suh said.
CAS told CNN it could not comment as it had not yet been informed of the Swiss federal tribunal's appeal.
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said they are determined to give Chiles the recognition she deserves.
“Due to the serious errors and omissions made by CAS in their handling of the case and their ignoring of clear evidence that Jordan won the bronze medal, we are determined to ensure she receives the recognition she deserves. Our commitment to the truth in this matter is unwavering,” the USOPC told CNN on Monday.
USA Gymnastics (USAG) told CNN it is not directly involved in the appeal at this time, but is supporting Chiles and her team.
“USAG is coordinating closely with Jordan and his legal team and will file supporting documents with the court in our continued pursuit of justice for Jordan,” the organization said.
“Chiles believes in competing with fairness and integrity and in holding these organizations to the standards and rules that were established to ensure fairness,” the gymnasts' lawyers said Monday.