Flavor Flav makes Jordan Chiles bronze clock necklace after she was stripped of Olympic medal

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Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Flavor Flav makes Jordan Chiles bronze clock necklace amid controversy
The hip-hop artist made Chiles a bronze clock necklace, encrusted with diamonds.

After the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided not to hear U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles' appeal to keep her bronze medal from the Olympics despite new evidence, rapper Flavor Flav made her something else.

The hip-hop artist made Chiles a bronze clock necklace, encrusted with diamonds.

"USA gonna Fight the Powers that be," he wrote on X. "In the meantime between time ,,, Imma always a man of my word."

Flav famously wore a clock around his neck during the '80s and '90s during his performances with the rap group Public Enemy.

Chiles is taking a break from social media amid the controversy, but her mother saw Flav's post and wrote, "Thank you, this means the world. I'll share it [with] her."

Chiles initially finished fifth in the individual floor exercise at last week's Paris Olympic Games, only to be moved up to the bronze medal spot when her coaches appealed the scoring of one of the elements in her routine.

The judges had incorrectly downgraded one of the elements of her routine and added the correct 0.1 points to her score on appeal. She jumped from 13.666 points to 13.766 points and passed over two Romanian gymnasts to place third.

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.
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

The decision to award Chiles the bronze medal came as Romania's Ana Barbosu was already celebrating her spot on the medal stand. She left in tears and her coaches would appeal the ruling, saying Chiles' coaches took four seconds longer than the allotted one minute coaches have to appeal to the judges.

The International Gymnastics Federation awarded Barbosu third place after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided the appeal made by Chiles' coach at the event, with CAS saying Chiles' score was "raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline."

In accordance with the CAS ruling, the International Olympic Committee said in a statement it "will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania). We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal."

"We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women's floor exercise," USA Gymnastics wrote in a statement shared to Instagram on Saturday after the initial ruling was delivered, adding, "Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media."

USA Gymnastics said Sunday it had video evidence that the appeal by Chiles' coaches was submitted 47 seconds after Chiles' incorrect score was published, well within the one-minute time limit.

The CAS on Monday said it would not even look at that evidence since their rules did not allow it.

USA Gymnastics said Monday it would continue to fight for Chiles, who has already returned to the U.S. with her bronze medal.

Teammates Simone Biles and Suni Lee both issued statements of support for Chiles on Instagram over the weekend.

"Sending you so much love, Jordan," Biles wrote in her post. "Keep your chin up Olympic champ! We love you!"

ABC News contributed to this report.

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