After her experience at the 2024 Olympics was mired in controversy, Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles made a major announcement about her future at the Games: She’s ready to run it back.
“LA 2028… WHY NOT? ✨🇺🇸,” she posted via Instagram on Wednesday, September 2.
Chiles, 25, revealed her plans to return to the Olympics with a video narrated by NBA icon Michael Jordan.
“Why again? Because the dream is still there,” Jordan, 63, said. “Why continue? Because there’s still more to give. Why now? Because not every chapter ends when people expect it to. Why her? Because she’s that girl.”
The narration continued, “Some decisions don’t need permission. Just one more bet, on herself. So when the world asks why she’s back for a third time, the answer is simple.”
“Why not?” Chiles herself then said.
The announcement video featured Chiles, singer Normani and model Winnie Harlow frollicking on a beach and congregating around a bonfire before the athlete revealed a custom “LA 2028” grill while definitively staking her claim on the Games in Los Angeles.
“✨️A Special Thank you to Normani, Winnie and THE Michael Jordan,” Chiles added in her social media post.
Chiles is a two-time Olympic medalist — a team gold in Paris and a team silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — though she briefly thought she held a third.
During the floor exercise final at the 2024 Games, Chiles’ coach, Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, submitted a successful inquiry that raised her score by half a point, good enough for third place and a bronze medal in the competition.
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), arguing that the inquiry was made past the one-minute deadline. The CAS ruled the inquiry was made at one minute and four seconds, ultimately reverting to the competition’s original scores and placing Chiles in fifth place.
Earlier this year, however, Chiles scored a win when the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland partially overturned the CAS ruling.
“In the highly exceptional circumstances of the case in question, it considers that there is a likelihood for the audio-visual recording of the final on 5 August 2024 to lead to a modification of the contested award in favor of the applicants,” a statement shared with USA Today read at the time. “The CAS [Court of Arbitration for Sport] could consider, in the light of this audio-visual sequence, that the verbal inquiry made on behalf of Jordan Chiles had been made before the expiry of the regulatory one-minute time limit.”
Chiles filed the appeal with the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland in September 2024.
“We are delighted that the Swiss Federal Supreme Court has righted a wrong and given Jordan the chance she deserves to reclaim her bronze medal,” Chiles’ attorney Maurice Suh said in a statement. “As the court recognized, there is ‘conclusive’ video evidence that Jordan was the rightful winner of the bronze medal.”
Suh continued, “We also appreciate the Court’s recognition that ‘extraordinary time pressure’ and notification defects prevented Jordan from presenting this important evidence in August 2024. We appreciate that Jordan will receive a full and fair opportunity to defend her bronze medal.”
Four out of the five members from Team USA’s women’s gymnastics team — Chiles, Suni Lee, Hezly Rivera and Jade Carey — have announced their plans to return for the Olympics in Los Angeles. Simone Biles, meanwhile, has not made a decision.
The 2028 Summer Olympics begin in July 2028.
