Gymnastics controversy: Court of Arbitration for Sport erred on appeal

Add this to the comedy of errors that have plagued the Olympic gymnastics bronze medal controversy over the past week: 

The Court of Arbitration for Sport did not reach out to the right U.S. officials as CAS prepared for last week’s Romanian appeal of Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal, a person with knowledge of the situation who did not want to be identified told USA TODAY Sports Monday. 

CAS was supposed to notify both sides, the United States and Romania, but ended up contacting the wrong U.S. officials. It is unknown if that mistake by CAS was a contributing factor to CAS’ ruling against Chiles, but the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee did say this in its statement Sunday:

“…There were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed. The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision. 

“As a result, we were not properly represented or afforded the opportunity to present our case comprehensively. Given these circumstances, we are committed to pursuing an appeal to ensure that Jordan Chiles receives the recognition she deserves. We remain dedicated to supporting her as an Olympic champion and will continue to work diligently to resolve this matter swiftly and fairly.”

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