Prime Minister to boycott Olympics closing ceremony after medals stripped in 'unacceptable' scenes

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has vowed to boycott the Paris Olympics closing ceremony after two gymnasts from his nation controversially missed out on medals. In the women's floor exercise final Romanians, Sabrina Voinea and Ana Barbosu tied for third. But Barbosu's name appeared in the bronze medal place on the leaderboard due to her superior execution score.

As the Romanian celebrated her first-ever Olympic bronze medal, beaming ear to ear as she held the Romanian flag aloft, the scoreboard changed and American Jordan Chiles was promoted to third after her coach successfully appealed her score. When Barbosu saw her name fall out of the medal position, she dropped the flag and burst into tears. Fellow Romanian Voinea also appealed her score within the allotted time period. If her appeal was successful she would have been promoted into the bronze place but her case was rejected by the judges.

Romanian gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci was furious with the judges' decision, stating Voinea was incorrectly penalised for going out of bounds in her routine. Comaneci posted a clip of her routine which showed Voinea's heel did not touch the mat outside the boundaries and therefore her appeal should have been successful, which would have seen her claim the gold.

European reports state that Comaneci - who was the first gymnast to ever receive a perfect 10, - has sent 'several requests' to Morinari Watanabe, the president of the International Gymnastics Federation, calling for Voinea’s floor exercise to be reanalysed. “I sent the videos to (Watanabe) because it’s important for the girl to know what she did wrong and what she didn’t do wrong,” Comaneci said. “He told me that, for him, the athletes are his sons and daughters and he wants to take care of them.”

If officials opt to change the score in the Romanian’s favour, a precedent set by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after a similar situation in 2022- Voinea would likely be awarded a bronze medal and Chiles would also retain her medal. In 2022 Switzerland’s Fanny Smith and Germany’s Daniela Maier were both awarded Olympic bronze medals after a lengthy dispute.

But the whole ordeal has led to the Romanian Prime Minister choosing to boycott the closing ceremony as he feels his athletes have been "treated in an absolutely dishonourable manner". “I decided not to attend the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics, following the scandalous situation in the gymnastics, where our athletes were treated in an absolutely dishonourable manner,” Ciolacu wrote on Facebook. “To withdraw a medal earned for honest work on the basis of an appeal, which neither the coaches nor the top technicians understand, is totally unacceptable!”

Jordan Chiles says she was unaware of her coach's challenge

Chiles revealed following Monday’s final that she was unaware an inquiry had been submitted on her behalf by her coach, Cecile Landi, but she was so glad it was accepted. “I have no words, but I’m so proud of myself,” Chiles said after the meet.

“I’m proud of each and every one of these girls, and especially myself.” Chiles won a gold medal with her US teammates in Tuesday’s team final, as well as a team silver in Tokyo, completing the medal full set.