Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu, who won bronze in the floor exercise at the 2024 Olympics after a controversial ruling that stripped American Jordan Chiles of his medal, will join Stanford’s gymnastics team this fall. She announced her engagement via Instagram on Wednesday.
“I can’t wait to join this amazing family! Go Card,” she wrote.
18-year-old Bărbosu was awarded the bronze medal six days after the floor exercise final after her team appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). At the August 5 event, Chiles reached the podium after her coach, Cecile Landi, successfully requested that Chiles’ score be increased by 0.1, moving her from fifth to third place. The court ruled that the judges who presided over the final should not have accepted the investigation because Landi’s request came four seconds after the one-minute deadline to submit it. The International Olympic Committee re-awarded Chiles’ bronze medal to Bărbosu, who received it at a ceremony in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
Bărbosu’s elation and devastation were in the spotlight on the day of the floor exercise finals. When Chiles, the last competitor in the event, initially scored a 13.666, Bărbosu – who scored 13.700 – began celebrating what she thought was a third-place finish. After Landi’s investigation led to Chiles’ score change, Bărbosu dropped her Romanian flag in shock and left the floor in tears.
Although Bărbosu is currently the official owner of the bronze, the medal is still stuck on appeal. Chiles’ lawyers filed a formal appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, the Swiss Supreme Court, on September 16 to overturn the CAS ruling and added a second appeal letter on September 24. USA Gymnastics also filed a separate appeal in conjunction with Chiles’ filing. Chiles’ attorneys claim that CAS failed to consider video evidence that “demonstrated that its investigation was submitted on time.”
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Although Bărbosu’s participation in the Paris Games was largely clouded by the floor final controversy, she helped Romania to a seventh-place finish in the team final and earned a spot in the individual all-around final. In the 2026 NCAA gymnastics season, she joins a Stanford squad that went from No. 52 in Week 1 to the semifinals of the 2024 NCAA Championship in Cinderella. It is likely that Bărbosu and Chiles will face each other at the collegiate level next season, as Chiles will complete her senior season at UCLA gymnastics and Bărbosu will make her NCAA debut. Former Pac-12 foes Stanford and UCLA are now in different conferences (the ACC and Big Ten, respectively), but the schools have a dual meet scheduled for March 9, indicating they will likely continue to schedule meets together in the future.
Another gymnast who competed for Romania at the 2024 Olympics will also soon enter the NCAA ranks, as Lilia Cosman has committed to Michigan State.
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(Photo: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images)