The women’s gymnastics floor final at the Paris Olympics took a sudden turn on Monday when Team USA judges submitted an inquiry, and Jordan Chiles was subsequently awarded a bronze medal, edging out Romania’s Ana Barbosu.
After the competition ended, it appeared Chiles was out of medal contention; she stood in fifth place with a score of 13.666. A short time later, the 23-year-old gymnast was suddenly seen jumping in the air.
In an unexpected move, Chiles score was adjusted after judges conducted a review. Barbosu, who had been in third place, was seen leaving in tears.
The challenge involved Chiles’ Tour Jete Full, one of the elements of her routine, which Team USA felt was not properly scored. Chiles didn’t get credit for the move in both qualifications and the team final.
The judges agreed and the decision pushed Chiles past Romanians Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea and into third.
“They had told me when they [filed the inquiry] and I was like, ‘OK let’s see what they come back with,'” Chiles said.
Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles explain why they bowed to Rebeca Andrade on the podium. “It was just the right thing to do,” Biles said when a journalist asked her in a press conference.
But she didn’t expect to see a big change.
“I honestly didn’t expect this like whatsoever,” she said.
Gymnastics fans had mixed reactions on social media, with some offering praise and others attacking the judges.
Chiles herself shared a message, too.
If you’re curious about what exactly happened — specifically what an inquiry is and how the process works — here’s everything you need to know.
So how exactly does scoring work?
Nine judges are chosen to score each Olympics gymnastics event. Those judges are broken into three groups: the D panel (difficulty score), E panel (execution score) and reference panel.
Difficulty score
The D panel is made up of two judges who determine the difficulty score.
Both judges record their difficulty score, accounting for the eight most difficult skills — including dismount — for women and 10 most difficult skills for men. The D panel judges compare scores and determine the routine’s difficulty score.
Vault is the only apparatus that has a predetermined difficulty score, which is displayed to the judges before the gymnast begins their vault.
Execution score
The E panel has five judges who determine the execution score. The execution score starts at 10.0 and the E panel makes deductions for errors during the routine. Deductions range in value from 0.1 to 1.0.
The five judges each record their own execution score for the routine. The top and bottom scores are dropped and the three remaining scores are averaged out to determine a final execution score.
Neutral deductions
Certain errors such as time violations, stepping out of bounds, behavior faults and falls are penalized as neutral deductions.
Inquiries
A gymnast can make a verbal challenge, called an inquiry, to the judges after their routine. The verbal inquiry must be followed by a written inquiry and can only occur after the gymnast’s final score has been posted.
Scores can be raised, lowered or remain the same based on the inquiry.
Code of Points
The Code of Points defines the scoring system for each level of gymnastics competitions.
Different gymnastics levels, disciplines and countries have their own codes. The International Gymnastics Federations sets the Code of Points for the top level of the sport, including the Paris Olympics.
Each athlete is awarded both and execution and difficulty score following their routines.
Final event scoring
The top eight gymnasts on each apparatus in qualifying advance to the respective apparatus final. No scores carry over from qualifying and the starting order for an apparatus final is determined by a random draw.
Each gymnast gets one attempt on an apparatus in the event final, with the exception of vault. Gymnasts in the women’s and men’s vault finals must perform two different vaults from two different vault groups. The average score of the two vaults is then averaged out to give a final apparatus score.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.