Jordan Chiles medal inquiry: USA Gymnastics says arbitration panel won't reconsider decision

USA Gymnastics officials say an arbitration panel won't reconsider a decision asking gymnast Jordan Chiles to return the bronze medal she was awarded in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics.

USA Gymnastics says it will continue efforts to let Chiles keep the medal.

“USA Gymnastics was notified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday that their rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement. “We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan.”

CAS voided an on-floor appeal from Chiles’ coach that vaulted her to third, saying the appeal came 4 seconds beyond the one-minute time limit for scoring inquiries.

USA Gymnastics disputed the timing, saying Sunday that the agency submitted video evidence to CAS that showed Team USA coach Cecile Landi first appealed 13 seconds before the deadline.

The dispute over such minute details sets up what could be a months- or years-long legal battle over the gymnastics scores.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said Saturday night it would respect the court’s decision and elevate Ana Barbosu of Romania to third. The International Olympic Committee confirmed the ruling Sunday, announcing that it was reallocating the medal.

CAS ruled Saturday that Landi’s inquiry to have 0.1 added to Chiles’ score came outside the one-minute window. The CAS ad hoc committee wrote that Landi’s inquiry came 1 minute, 4 seconds after Chiles’ initial score was posted.

The IOC said it will be in touch with the USOPC regarding the return of Chiles’ bronze and will work with the Romanian Olympic Committee to discuss a reallocation ceremony honoring Barbosu. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil won gold and Simone Biles of the U.S. was the silver medalist.

Any appeal could go to Switzerland’s highest court, the Swiss Tribunal, or the European Court of Human Rights.

Late Monday, rapper Flavor Flav — who has been a prominent celebrity supporter of 2024 Olympians, including discus thrower Veronica Fraley — posted on the social media platform X that he had made a bedazzled bronze medal for Chiles as a potential replacement while the U.S. fights “the Powers that be.” The replacement is in the manner of a clock, which the rapper has worn for decades, since his days with the group Public Enemy.

“Thank you. Means the world," according to a reply posted on the X account of Gina Charles, the gymnast's mother. “She’s not on socials right now as you can imagine. I’ll share it with her.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Flavor Flav gestures prior to a women's water polo group B preliminary match between Italy and USA, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Silver medalist Simone Biles, of the United States, left, and bronze medalist Jordan Chiles, of the United States, right, bow to gold medalist Rebeca Andrade, of Brazil, during the medal ceremony for the women's artistic gymnastics individual floor finals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Jordan Chiles medal inquiry: USA Gymnastics says arbitration panel won't reconsider decision

Two-time U.S. Olympic gymnast medalist Jordan Chiles shows her medals after ringing the closing bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite, in New York's Times Square, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Jordan Chiles medal inquiry: USA Gymnastics says arbitration panel won't reconsider decision

NEW YORK (AP) — Suki Waterhouse discovered the Sparklemuffin spider during a late-night scroll.

“He’s wildly colored. He’s cute,” she said. Best of all: He dances. “I felt somewhat akin to him.”

The spider became a foil and a mascot for Waterhouse's sophomore album, “Memoir of a Sparklemuffin,” out Friday.

The release follows the British singer-songwriter's 2022 debut “I Can't Let Go" and her time playing keyboardist Karen Sirko in “Daisy Jones and the Six,” the Amazon Prime series based on Taylor Jenkins Reid's bestselling novel about a 1970s rock band. The record's 18 songs cover heartache and the search for a “Big Love,” but also the 32-year-old's time in the industry, which she entered as a teen, modeling first. The project wrapped just days before the birth of her daughter, now six months old, with partner Robert Pattinson.

After celebrating the release with stops at the Michael Kors fashion show and the MTV Video Music Awards, Waterhouse talked with The Associated Press about making the album while pregnant and how playing Sirko motivated her to fully embrace her music career.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

WATERHOUSE: I think the physical limitations were something that shaped the album, in a really good way. It was sort of amazing to not be able to leave the house for a couple of months. I mean, I really got to focus in a way that I don’t know if sometimes you are able to when the world keeps moving.

I’m someone that loves working at home. All of my music that I've made pretty much has been made in home studios — big studios can freak me out a little bit. There’s something especially about being in Los Angeles, there’s just so many talented people around you, so you’re literally able to call up the best guitarist and he lives 15 minutes away. So it was very much that feeling of having awesome people just flow in and out of my house, with also a good deadline. It wasn't just the deadline of — finish the record. It was, we must finish the record. There will be a baby here if we don’t.

WATERHOUSE: It's funny, when I wrote that song, I kind of had that loop going around — (singing) “call me a model, an actress, whatever” — and it was something that I thought was kind of self-deprecating and funny. But I also felt like I would want to be in my car singing that. It's dramatic, it's glamorous.

I love consuming stories about people's lives written by them, I love reading a memoir, I love reading from someone's perspective what really went down, what really happened. That song, I guess, I was a little afraid after I wrote it — like, I've been trying to get away from being called this, from having these kind of labels — and then I think that was why I ended up writing it. There were a couple of months where I was like, “I'm not going to have this as a single. Let's sweep that one under the carpet.” And then it's always those ones actually, that eventually, you're like, “No, yeah, this is reclaiming those words.”

Especially with the video, I wanted to have just like a ton of fun and play into the stereotypes. I actually feel very empowered by the song. The video is like, really funny and I hope everyone watches it because it's just like a giggle. I really feel proud of that.

WATERHOUSE: Looking at the book, she was cool and calm and collected and she knew exactly what she wanted to do and she knew exactly who she was. She wanted to be on tour for the rest of her life. And you know, there was a reason why I was drawn to the part. I think whenever you step into a role, you do just absorb — that’s the job. There’s just so much to be gained from that experience.

Something about playing her gave me that nudge, that voice in my head that was like: “Right, now is that time that you need to go and make that album that you’ve been wanting to make for years and years and years, that you’ve been working towards. You’ve got the songs, they’re all there, go and make the album.” Also, playing a role where we were all in a band, hanging out in Sound City Studios everyday, I was kind embracing that life of a musician. I had this hole in my heart like, that’s what I want to be doing too.

WATERHOUSE: (Laughs) Yeah, I guess. She’s always there, she’s always there.

WATERHOUSE: I feel like it’s difficult not to. When I did Taylor (Swift)’s show the other day, I went straight into the studio afterward. You're so inspired watching that show, so I was like, “I want to make a stadium song.” I ended up making a slow ballad, but obviously it’s still super inspiring.

The first record I made, I had so many voices in my head — like, “Don't do anything too upbeat.” Those voices, a lot of those insecurities, are kind of gone now, in many ways.

When I wrote “My Fun,” that was the first kind of upbeat song that I’d done that still felt like it was true to my palette and my world and that I liked. And I was like, “OK, I can write an upbeat song and not be cringed out by it.” And that is so fun, to do an upbeat song on stage. So 1,000%, from this record, I can’t wait to be going on tour and have those different songs that are a little more upbeat.

WATERHOUSE: There’s nothing better than having a bunch of new songs that you love so much and you feel like you’re putting together a show that’s like a whole level up, that you couldn’t have even dreamed of a year ago, you know?

Suki Waterhouse poses for a portrait on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Suki Waterhouse poses for a portrait on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Suki Waterhouse poses for a portrait on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Suki Waterhouse poses for a portrait on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Suki Waterhouse poses for a portrait on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)