U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles took a ride on the emotional rollercoaster on Monday in Paris.
She was last to perform at the women’s individual floor final and, initially, finished fifth out of nine competitors. It looked like she would miss out on a medal.
But as Romania’s Ana Barbosu celebrated her bronze, waving to the crowd at Bercy Arena with her nation's flag in hand, a new set of scores flashed up on the big screen.
As NBC’s John Roethlisberger explained on the broadcast, Chiles initially did not receive credit for an element called a tour jete full, a split leap followed by a full spin on the way down.
Chiles had been docked for this same move in qualifying on July 28 because she did not complete the full spin after the split leap. Chiles' coach, Laurent Landi, thought she performed the move better in the final than she did in qualifying, so he went to the judges and asked them to reevaluate the element.
“I was not confident, but what do you have to lose?” Landi said Monday. “She was off of the podium already. ... I had the same angle as the judges, and I felt it was way better than all the meets that she’s done. So, what the heck. You might as well try it, you know?"
The judges ultimately gave Chiles credit for the full spin, one tenth of a point, and that bumped her up from fifth to a bronze medal.
Chiles finished with a score of 13.766, .066 ahead of Barbosu.
Chiles told reporters that she was so tired after completing her routine that she didn’t even realize her coaches had put in an inquiry.
“When it came through, I was very proud of myself," Chiles said. "It was my first event final and my first event medal. Like, this is crazy.”
Brazil's Rebeca Andrade edged out Simone Biles for the gold.