Paris: the city of love, light and disappointment. Located in France’s capital, the 2024 Summer Olympics left sports fans worldwide dissatisfied over confusing calls and unresolved controversies.
“The bronze medal in the gymnastics competition was a bit of a mess,” said Health and Fitness teacher, Jennifer Baldaccini, regarding the error involving American gymnast Jordan Chiles and Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu.
The controversy stemmed from a scoring mistake that awarded the bronze medal for Woman’s Floor Artistic Gymnastics to Chiles, only to correct it in favor of Bărbosu after a delayed review, sparking outrage among fans and athletes alike.
This error was due to a miscalculation in Chiles’ difficulty score which went unnoticed during the official review. Originally, Chiles finished fifth in her floor routine. However, after her coach, Cécile Landi, appealed, officials adjusted Chiles’ score, making it just high enough to secure the bronze medal.
The following day, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared that Landi should not have been allowed to appeal, resulting in Chiles returning her bronze medal to the original third-place finisher, Bărbosu.
Why was Landi’s appeal denied? A four-second breach of the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) one-minute time limit for scoring inquiries.
“I think the fact that you only get 1 minute to appeal is such a short amount of time to realize a mistake has been made… Humans make mistakes, and I am not sure that you can ensure 100% error-free scoring especially when it comes to gymnastics,” said Baldaccini. “It is very difficult to be a judge and see all of the tiny elements and skills.”
Sophomore Giada DeMaio of Middletown further noted that the judgments made by the IOC and CAS were fair in some respects but not in others.
“With Jordan Chiles, the judges didn’t seem to check their work well,” said DeMaio, “It seemed somewhat unprofessional in some fields.”
But it’s not just the Olympic judges that are receiving backlash. Athletes have also come under fire, with some facing criticism for making controversial decisions.
American track and field athlete Noah Lyles became the center of negative attention after many drama- stirring comments and questionable actions.
“Lyles seems to have a lot of controversy surrounding him sadly,” said Baldaccini. “I can see why Lyles thought his comment about the ‘world champions’ was appropriate, but some things are just better left unsaid.”
Following Lyles’ five-thousandths-of-a-second win over Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson past comments regarding the NBA championship began to resurface.
Lyles had previously questioned the legitimacy of the title “world champions” used by NBA teams, arguing that the term was misleading as the league only competes within the United States. Though intended to highlight the global nature of track and field, his remarks were met with backlash from NBA players and fans alike, who felt his criticism was unwarranted.
Still, the controversy didn’t end there. Lyles also faced scrutiny after testing positive for COVID-19 and subsequently withdrawing from the 4×100 relay, only to be spotted at a nightclub without a mask shortly afterward. This behavior drew sharp criticism from those who believed it showed not only a disregard for public health, but for his team and the nation as a whole.
As the Paris 2024 Olympics came to an end, the controversies involving both judges and athletes have left a mark on this year’s games. From Chiles’ revoked bronze medal to Lyles’ off-track behavior, these incidents have sparked discussions about fairness and the pressures of competition.
“Rather than just be happy for each others’ successes, everyone is so quick to judge and downgrade their achievements,” Baldaccini said.
While the games celebrated incredible athletic feats, the unresolved tensions showed that even the world’s greatest stage isn’t immune to human error and criticism.
