Photo: Getty Images
Flavor Flav is giving Jordan Chiles a custom piece of bronze jewelry following the decision to strip her Olympic medal.
In a video shared on X, formerly Twitter, Flavor Flav, who has been vocal about his support for Team USA and the water polo team, showed off the bronze clock necklace he created for Chiles after she was stripped of the bronze medal she earned from the gymnastics floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The necklace features bronze rhinestones inside and outside of a clock and bronze hands set at 12:00.
“USA gonna Fight the Powers that be,,, in the meantime between time,,, Imma always a man of my word @ChilesJordan,” the rapper captioned a video of the custom necklace, referencing his hip-hop group Public Enemy’s hit “Fight the Power.”
Chiles' mom, Gina, commented on the video, saying "Thank you. Means the world. She's not on socials right now as you can imagine. I'll share it with her."
The artist's gesture comes amid the bronze medal controversy.
Chiles was initially given a score of 13.666 on the floor final last week, falling short of Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu's bronze score of 13.700.
However, Chiles' coaches successfully challenged her difficulty score, which added 0.1 to her total and earned her the bronze medal.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) later ruled on Saturday (August 10) that the challenge made over Chiles' score was submitted after the one-minute deadline. The Internal Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said the ruling would reinstate Chiles' original score of 13.666, improving Bărbosu’s back to bronze.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that the score change meant Chiles would be stripped of the bronze medal.
“Following the CAS decision with regard to the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Final and the amendment of the ranking by the International Gymnastics Federation, the IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania),” the IOC said in the statement.
The US Olympic Committee announced Sunday (August 11) that it would be appealing the decision.
“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed,” the organization said in a statement.
USA Gymnastics said it would be providing additional video evidence that the challenge was made within the one-minute deadline requirement.
Video evidence “conclusively establishing that Head Coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of the score, within the 1-minute deadline required by FIG rule," the organization said.
However, on Monday (August 12), USA Gymnastics announced that CAS denied their appeal to reinstate Chiles' bronze medal. CAS said Barbosu would be the only gymnast to receive the medal.
"USA Gymnastics was notified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday that their rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented," USA Gymnastics said in a statement.
"We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan."
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