Romania PM to snub closing ceremony after gymnast ‘scandalously’ deprived of medal by USA

Ana Barbosu broke down in tears after an inquiry led to her losing the individual bronze in the women’s floor exercise final

The Romanian prime minister will snub the Olympic closing ceremony after one of the country’s leading gymnasts was “scandalously” deprived of a medal by Team USA.
Ana Barbosu broke down in tears after an inquiry led to her losing the individual bronze in the women’s floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday.
The medal was instead taken by American Jordan Chiles who had demanded an inquiry into her own score. Marcel Ciolacu, Romania’s prime minister, said the decision was “totally unacceptable” as he stirred up a diplomatic row. “I decided not to participate in the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics, after the scandalous situation in gymnastics, where our athletes were treated in an absolutely dishonorable way,” he wrote on Facebook. “To withdraw a medal earned by honest work based on an appeal, which neither the coaches nor the top technicians understand, is totally unacceptable.”
He even drew comparison with the Soviet Union’s chequered past at Olympics as he suggested Team USA had unfairly used their influence as a sporting superpower to get the result overturned. “I remember very well how, in communism, the Russians would steal us at the Olympics, and we would try to argue with them without much chance of winning,” he wrote.
Chiles, 23, was originally placed fifth but submitted a challenge to judges. Her score was upgraded as a skill in her Gogean routine had initially not been credited. As a result, Chiles leapfrogged Barbosu, 18, on to the podium, leaving the Romanian speechless and in tears.
The incident has caused outrage in Romania. Ciolacu wrote: “It is inadmissible that in a competition of such magnitude, which promotes values such as respect, understanding, and excellence, a child who had honestly earned her medal should be brutally deprived of the result of her four years of work! I could not bear to see her tears and accept calmly that such a thing is perfectly normal…. hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide were, like us Romanians, effectively shocked by this terrible scene that shows that somewhere in the organisation system of this competition something is wrong.”
Romania ended their participation in the artistic gymnastics competitions on Monday without a medal. In the floor final, Sabrina Maneca Voinea finished one place behind Barbosu in fifth.
The International Olympic Committee was contacted for comment.