Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu, who won bronze in the ground exercise on the 2024 Olympics after a controversial ruling stripped American Jordan Chiles of a medal, will join Stanford's gymnastics team in the autumn. On Wednesday she announced her engagement via Instagram.
“I can't wait to join this amazing family! Go Card,” she wrote.
Bărbosu, 18, was awarded the bronze medal six days after the ground exercise final after her team appealed to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). During the event on August 5, Chiles stood on the rostrum after her coach Cecile Landi successfully requested that Chile's rating be increased by 0.1, moving her from fifth to 3rd place. The court ruled that the judges presiding over the finale shouldn’t have accepted the inquiry because Landi's request was received 4 seconds after the one-minute deadline for submitting the request had expired. The International Olympic Committee awarded Chile's bronze medal to Bărbosu, who received it at a ceremony in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
Bărbosu's elation and despair were within the highlight on the day of the ground exercise final. As Chiles, the event's final competitor, initially scored 13.666 points, Bărbosu – who scored 13.700 points – began to have fun what she thought was her third place finish. After Landi's investigation led to Chiles changing her rating, Bărbosu dropped her Romanian flag in shock and left the hall in tears.
Although Bărbosu is currently the official owner of the bronze medal, the medal continues to be the topic of appeals. Chiles' lawyers filed a proper appeal with the Swiss Federal Court, Switzerland's highest court, on September 16 to overturn the CAS ruling and added a second appeal transient on September 24. USA Gymnastics also filed a separate appeal related to Chiles' motion. Chiles' lawyers argue that CAS didn’t consider video evidence that “showed that her request was submitted in a timely manner.”
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While Bărbosu's participation within the Paris Games was largely marred by the ground final controversy, she helped Romania to a seventh-place finish within the team final and secured a spot in the person all-around final. In the 2026 NCAA gymnastics season, she is going to join a Stanford team that accomplished a Cinderella run from No. 52 in Week 1 to the semifinals of the 2024 NCAA Championships. It is probably going that Bărbosu and Chiles will compete on the collegiate level next season, as Chiles will complete her senior season with UCLA gymnastics and Bărbosu will make her NCAA debut. Former Pac-12 foes Stanford and UCLA currently compete in several conferences (ACC and Big Ten, respectively), but the colleges have a dual meet scheduled for March 9, indicating they’re more likely to proceed meeting together in the longer term will plan.
Another gymnast who competed for Romania within the 2024 Olympics may even soon join the NCAA ranks as Lilia Cosman has committed to Michigan State.
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