Ana Maria Bărbosu officially received the bronze medal on Friday in the Olympic floor exercise, following a decision by the CAS that stripped American gymnast Jordan Chiles of the 3rd place.
Furthermore, a well-known American gymnast, former Olympic champion named Laurie Hernandez (24 years old), who won gold with the USA team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, as well as silver on the balance beam at that time, has expressed support for the 18-year-old Romanian gymnast from Focșani.
Jordan Chiles was devastated by the CAS decision which clarified that Ana Bărbosu deserves the bronze medal, as the American team filed a protest too late regarding Chiles' start value in the floor final.
Laurie Hernandez retired from competition after winning the team gold and has since become a sports commentator for NBC: "I prefer to keep my opinions to myself, comments can make things messy. I'm not saying the judges are at fault, but when you slow things down, of course you'll find something different. Unfortunately, I watched live on TV this poor Romanian girl who was crushed because she thought the medal was hers... Her hand is on her stomach and her heart is broken," Laurie Hernandez said according to essentiallysports.
In this interview, Hernandez also mentioned that she personally would have awarded three bronze medals in this event, to Bărbosu, Chiles, and Sabrina Maneca Voinea.
Romania finished the Paris Olympics with 9 medals, three gold, four silver, and two bronze.
D.A.