GENEVA (AP) — American gymnast Jordan Chiles may reclaim the bronze medal on floor exercise from the 2024 Paris Olympics that was stripped from her following an appeal by Romania after all.
Switzerland’s supreme court said on Thursday its judges sent the “highly exceptional circumstances” of the bronze medal awarded in the women’s floor exercise back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to examine new evidence.
The outcome of an event that created a celebrated Olympic photo featuring Chiles, floor exercise silver medalist Simone Biles and gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil — all women of color — rests on just a handful of seconds: Can the U.S. team prove it made a timely appeal in the Olympic arena on behalf of Chiles?
The federal judges’ ruling — highly unusual in cases of this nature — suggested Chiles could regain the bronze medal she originally got in Paris after challenging her judged score.
Chiles’ third-place finish was overturned within days on appeal by the Romanian team to the CAS’ Olympic court in Paris. The medal was awarded in Bucharest the next week to Ana Maria Barbosu.
The federal court wants CAS to examine a recording that could show the original U.S. challenge of the judged score was within a one-minute deadline on the field of play.
“In the highly exceptional circumstances of the case in question,” the Swiss Federal Tribunal said in a statement, “it considers that there is a likelihood for the audio-visual recording of the final on Aug. 5, 2024 to lead to a modification of the contested award in favor of the applicant (Chiles).”
The CAS said in a statement Thursday it “can now ensure a thorough judicial review of the new evidence that has since been made available.”
The court based in Lausanne, across the Olympics' home city from the supreme court, gave no timetable for the review. It likely will take at least one year to prepare and process before a verdict is ready.
Still, the federal court's decision has given Chiles renewed hope of keeping her medal and putting the controversy behind her.
“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," Maurice M. Suh, part of the legal team representing Chiles, said in a statement. “As the Court recognized, there is ‘conclusive’ video evidence that Jordan was the rightful winner of the bronze medal.”
Suh added that Chiles will “fight vigorously” and is grateful to have a “full and fair opportunity to defend her bronze medal.”
USA Gymnastics praised the court for recognizing “the flaws in the initial process and that Jordan's case can now be heard inclusive of all relevant evidence.”
Chiles, now 24, has pressed forward with her life after dealing with significant online backlash — some of it racially tinged — in the immediate aftermath.
She returned to compete collegiately at UCLA while also leaning into her burgeoning celebrity, participating on the reality competition “Dancing With the Stars,” posing for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and is currently featured in a commercial for a female athleisure apparel line that also includes tennis icon Serena Williams and track star Sha’Carri Richardson.
Graves reported from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
AP Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
FILE - Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu poses with the bronze medal for her women's artistic gymnastics individual floor performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics, after receiving it during a ceremony at the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, in Bucharest, Romania, Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
FILE - Silver medalist Simone Biles, of the United States, left, and bronze medalist Jordan Chiles, of the United States, right, bow to gold medalist Rebeca Andrade, of Brazil, during the medal ceremony for the women's artistic gymnastics individual floor finals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Trump administration could reduce the number of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota, but only if state and local officials cooperate, the president's border czar said Thursday, noting he has “zero tolerance” for protesters who assault federal officers or impede the ongoing Twin Cities operation.
Tom Homan addressed reporters for the first time since the president sent him to Minneapolis following last weekend's fatal shooting of protester Alex Pretti, the second this month by federal officers carrying out the operation. His comments came after President Donald Trump seemed to signal a willingness to ease tensions in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area and as the administration ended its “enhanced operations” in Maine.
Homan emphasized that the administration isn't relenting on its immigration crackdown and warned that protesters could face consequences if they interfere with federal officers.
But he seemed to acknowledge there had been missteps.
“I do not want to hear that everything that’s been done here has been perfect. Nothing’s ever perfect,” he said.
Homan hinted at the prospect of pulling out many of the roughly 3,000 federal officers taking part in the operation, but he seemed to tie that to cooperation from state and local leaders and a reduction in protester interference.
“The drawdown is going to happen based on these agreements," he said. "But the drawdown can happen even more if the hateful rhetoric and the impediment and interference will stop.”
He also said he would oversee internal changes in federal immigration law enforcement, but he gave few specifics.
“The mission is going to improve because of the changes we’re making internally,” he said. “No agency organization is perfect. And President Trump and I, along with others in the administration, have recognized that certain improvements could and should be made.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told reporters in Washington on Thursday he was “hopeful” that the number of federal officers in the city would be reduced. He said police would do their jobs but not “somebody else's,” referring to federal law enforcement.
Despite Trump softening his rhetoric about Minnesota officials — he said this week they were on a “similar wavelength” — there has been no visible sign of any big changes to the operation. On Thursday, as the Justice Department charged a man accused of squirting vinegar on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, a smattering of protesters braved the frigid temperatures to demonstrate outside of the federal facility that has been serving as the operation's main hub.
Pretti, 37, was fatally shot Saturday during a scuffle with the Border Patrol. Earlier this month, 37-year-old Renee Good was shot in her vehicle by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Homan doubled down on the need for jails to alert ICE to inmates who could be deported, saying that transferring such inmates to the agency while they’re still in jail is safer because it means fewer officers have to be out looking for people who are in the country illegally. ICE has historically relied on cooperation from local and state jails to notify the agency about such inmates.
“Give us access to illegal aliens, public safety threats in the safety and security of a jail,” he said.
The border czar, whose arrival followed the departure of the Trump administration’s on-the-ground leader of the operation, Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, also seemed to suggest a renewed focus on what ICE calls “targeted operations” focused on apprehending immigrants who have committed crimes. Homan said the agency would conduct “targeted strategic enforcement operations” prioritizing “public safety threats.”
It remains to be seen whether ICE's renewed focus on “targeted operations” might reduce tensions.
ICE and Homan have long said the Trump administration's primary focus is to arrest people in the country illegally who have a criminal history or pose a threat to public safety. But they acknowledge they'll also arrest anyone else found to be in the U.S. illegally.
They argue that ICE operations target specific people, as opposed to carrying out indiscriminate raids where officers round up everyone and demand their papers.
Sameera Hafiz, policy director with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said Homan's comments seemed to reflect a recognition that public opinion has turned against ICE, but she questioned his argument that carrying out targeted operations would make the country safer.
“His comments still seem to be based on the false premise that deporting people or deportation will make our community safer,” she said. “All the evidence and data has shown that deportations don’t make our communities safer. They destabilize families, they tear communities apart, they hurt our economy.”
Homan didn't give a specific timeline for how long he would stay in Minnesota.
“I’m staying until the problem’s gone,” he said, adding that he has met with community, law enforcement and elected leaders in the hopes of finding common ground and suggested that he’s made some progress.
Santana reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis, Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, and Steven Sloan in Washington contributed.
Posters depicting Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good are displayed inside a bus shelter across the street from the site where Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was fatally shot by federal immigration agents, in Minneapolis, Minn., Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
Posters depicting Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good are displayed on a wall near the site where Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was fatally shot by federal immigration agents, in Minneapolis, Minn., Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
People participate during a noise demonstration outside the Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis hotel on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A pair of volunteer observers patrol south Minneapolis neighborhoods Tuesday, Jan 27, 2026, looking for signs of activity by federal immigration officers. (AP Photo/Tim Sullivan)
People hold up photos during a vigil for Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Henderson, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal agents try to clear demonstrators near a hotel, using tear gas during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
White House border czar Tom Homan holds a news conference as Marcos Charles and Rodney Scott, listen, at the Bishop Whipple Federal building on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Law enforcement officers prepare to make arrests after declaring an unlawful assembly during a noise demonstration outside the Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis hotel on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
White House border czar Tom Homan holds a news conference at the Bishop Whipple Federal building on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
White House border czar Tom Homan holds a news conference as Marcos Charles and Rodney Scott, listen, at the Bishop Whipple Federal building on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
White House border czar Tom Homan holds a news conference at the Bishop Whipple Federal building on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
White House border czar Tom Homan holds a news conference at the Bishop Whipple Federal building on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
