By NBC/Associated Press

At the last second, U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles was awarded the bronze medal in the women’s floor final. But, as it turns out, it came four seconds too late.

The International Olympic Committee on Sunday affirmed that Chiles must return her bronze medal. Chiles’ coaches challenged her score at the event, and a change moved her to the medal podium, but that challenge came too late. U.S. Olympic officials say they will appeal that ruling.

Chiles initially finished in fifth place with a score of 13.666. Her coach filed an inquiry into the calculation of her difficulty score. It was accepted and her score increased to 13.766, which bumped her up two spots — over Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea — and into third.

On Saturday, five days after the competition, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of Barbosu that Chiles’ inquiry came after the required time frame of one minute. The inquiry was submitted one minute and four seconds after her routine.

Due to the untimely inquiry, Chiles’ initial score of 13.666 was reinstated. FIG, the international governing body for gymnastics, confirmed that the results of the floor final will be amended, with Barbosu ranking third.

Brazilian Rebeca Andrade won gold with a score of 14.166 and American Simone Biles took silver with a 14.133.

USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committe released the following joint statement:

“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise. The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring.”

Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subject to such treatment. We condemn the attacks and those who engage, support or instigate them. We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her.”

SEE MORE: Andrade upsets Biles on floor to become most decorated Brazilian Olympian, Biles takes silver; Chiles bronze

Source: wralsportsfan.com