United States gymnast Jordan Chiles, in an interview on the “Baby, this is Keke Palmer” podcast, again suggested racism played a role in the now-infamous bronze medal fiasco at the Paris Summer Olympics.

Chiles said she initially dismissed racism as a factor but changed her view after receiving vile online abuse, including threats, which she linked to backlash against the all-Black podium.

Casting the sins of anonymous online trolls on the decision of officials may be a bit of a stretch. Still, she thinks the entire hype surrounding the media-driven “all-black podium” narrative, made possible by stripping Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu of her bronze medal in the first place, is what led to her medal being rescinded.

Not the controversy of the scoring appeal. The timing. The initial ruling, followed by the final ruling. But because of Chiles’ skin color.

The podcast host asked the already-highly decorated gymnast if she “accepted” that she had “experienced racism” during the process of the scoring ruling.

“At first, I didn’t think of it in that way until I started almost literally getting racist comments and saying this and saying that and basically telling, like people were telling me to kill myself, and it got to a really, really tough point,” she replied.

Jordan Chiles – It was racism

Jordan continued to lean heavily into the racism narrative when discussing the bronze medal fiasco at the Paris Olympics. She feels she was the victim, unable to separate trash human beings on social media with what was happening in the real world.

“I had to get off of social media for a while. Because it was, you know, it was really hard to even see that, as an athlete, like, let alone an athlete, I’m up, there, yes, it’s an ‘all-Black’ podium, which is very rare, it’s obviously something that people don’t like,” she claimed.

“As being a woman of color, I started seeing it more. They didn’t want to see that, they didn’t want to see three beautiful Black women standing on that podium,” Chiles asserted without evidence.

“They didn’t want to see the fact that we were just dominating. And I really took that to heart.”

Jordan Chiles’ continued willingness to blame racism is an affront to Bărbosu, who has her own right to gripe about how officials handled things. It’s sad, really.

READ MORE: Could Bill Belichick Be Heading Back to the NFL? One Sports Writer Thinks So

Refresher on the controversy

If you’re unaware of the controversy or if it’s escaped your mind after months of little news activity, the story is a bit convoluted.

Jordan Chiles was initially awarded the bronze in the floor exercise, but it was later contested under the notion that her coach had filed an improper appeal that upped her score due to a difficulty rating. That appeal was later determined to have been filed four seconds after the one-minute deadline allowed by gymnastics rules.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in favor of the appeal’s disqualification, leading to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) deciding to reallocate the bronze medal to Romania’s Ana Bărbosu.

Essentially, Bărbosu won the bronze. Then Chiles won the bronze. Then Bărbosu won the bronze. A cluster mess by any measure. Making matters worse, Team USA appears to have video evidence that the appeal was, in fact, filed within the permitted time frame.

A ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport was issued to strip Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal, saying it’s because her coach's inquiry into the scores came four seconds too late. @Aly_Raisman shares her perspective on TODAY. pic.twitter.com/3yBurjyMYG

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 12, 2024

How officials handled the ridiculous scoring issue aside, not to mention the absurdity of a coach simply arguing with a judge that his athlete’s routine was somehow more challenging and receiving a scoring change, Jordan Chiles is diminishing Bărbosu’s efforts by claiming racism is the main factor here.

She’s also discrediting her own legacy. And it’s embarrassing.

Contrary to her claims, support for Chiles online has been overwhelming and positive. Most sports fans feel a resolution could have been achieved by giving both women a Bronze medal. Everybody would have presumably been happy.

The controversy isn’t just disappointing for Chiles, but also for Bărbosu, who initially celebrated her bronze, then had to run off the floor crying when they took it away. It wasn’t a black or white thing – it was an incompetent Olympic official thing.

Chiles and Team USA are currently involved in an appeal against the CAS for its decision, and she has refused to return the bronze medal in the meantime.