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Gymnast Ana Barbosu handed Olympic bronze in medal ceremony held in Bucharest
In a ceremony organized on Friday on the esplanade of the Bucharest Olympic House, gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu collected her bronze medal won in the Paris Olympics women's floor final following a Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to upgrade her from fourth to third. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu was in attendance.
Member of the International Olympic Committee for Romania Octavian Morariu presented her with the medal, while president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (COSR) Mihai Covaliu handed her the mascot and poster of the Paris Olympic Games.
The COSR emphasized at the ceremony that the medal received by Ana Barbosu is not the same U.S. athlete Jordan Chiles wore around her neck on the podium in Paris.
"The only thing that happened today is that justice was done in the medal award. It was a battle against the clock because procedures are very strict and the appeal [to the CAS] had to be filed within 24 hours of the medal being awarded to the American gymnast. By dint of my mandate, I was able to hand this medal to Ana today. It's been 12 years since our last Olympic podium in gymnastics and I am happy from the bottom of my heart for this. It's a signal that Romanian gymnastics sends to the world. Romanian gymnastics is returning to its rightful place," said Morariu.
Ana Barbosu declared that she wants to continue bringing medals to Romania in international competitions.
"It's a highly emotional moment for me. I heard our champions in Paris say that the medal weighs heavy on their neck, but I didn't realize that until now. I thank everyone who added their bit to this bronze medal, because this feat comes after many years of hard work in the gym. I thank the coaches without whom I wouldn't have succeeded. I am glad that I got hold of this medal and I hope to continue to represent Romania at the highest level and reap many more medals on its behalf," said the happily smiling gymnast
Barbosu also voiced hopes that international efforts will lead to her colleague Sabrina Maneca Voinea also receiving the bronze, as requested by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation.
"I want to let everyone know that they must have faith and if they aspire for great things, they will come true, provided that they keep up the hard work. I am happy for the medal received today, I hope there is a happy conclusion for the girls [Sabrina Maneca-Voinea and American Jordan Chiles] too. I cannot help thinking about them, even if today I was the only one to receive the bronze. It saddens us all to see such issues blemishing such high-level decisions, because we, the athletes, did nothing wrong. We just presented our routines to the world and we wanted to convey as much emotion and joy as possible. And we would have expected the arbiters to do their job just as well," declared the athlete.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport decided that the Olympic bronze medal in the women's floor event should go to 18-year-old Ana Maria Barbosu, as per the initial finishing order, following the review applications filed by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. Chiles' initial score of 13.666 was reinstated, sending her back to 5th position.
As a result of this ruling, Ana Maria Barbosu was reinstated as bronze medalist, while her fellow national Sabrina Maneca Voinea finished 4th, because the appeal submitted by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and Maneca Voinea was dismissed.
CAS released on Wednesday its written reasons for its decision not to reconsider the ruling to strip U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles of her Olympic bronze medal, noting that it "condemns the outrageous statements published in certain U.S. media alleging that the panel, and more particularly its chairman, was biased due to other professional engagements or for reasons of nationality."
"As none of the parties involved in this case has challenged any panel member during the procedure, it can reasonably be assumed that all parties were satisfied to have their case heard by this panel. Any subsequent criticism is without foundation or merit."