At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, gymnast Jordan Chiles scored a team gold medal and individual bronze in floor, but she’s not stopping anytime soon. The day after making history at the gymnastics individual finals as part of an all-Black podium Chiles announced her return to the University of California Los Angeles, which of course means her return to their NCAA gymnastics team.
“People always say, ‘You're going back to college?’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, I am,’” Chiles tells Teen Vogue. “I have goals for my college career. There's been so many things that I've done, but as a team, I feel like there's that one thing that I'm missing. I’m going to take it year by year. I'm going to let it flow, see how everything turns out, and enjoy it. And who doesn't love going to LA? Who doesn’t love waking up to the Hollywood sign?”
Enjoying the moment is something Chiles does well. Our July cover star entered into this cycle of the Olympics focused on being true to herself and letting the rest fall into place. “Qualifications were so fun,” she says. “That was my start to my redemption tour because, obviously, back in Tokyo I did not do so hot in qualifications. Being able to redeem myself and really hit four for four, I was very proud of myself.”
Our U.S. women’s gymnastics team as an entity were out to prove the naysayers wrong. After Chiles, Simone Biles, Suni Lee and Jade Carey all attended the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and took home the silver team medal, they knew they had more left in them. Lovingly referred to as the “Golden Girls” — because they’re team average age is the oldest ever seen on a U.S. gymnastics team — these four seniors, joined by newcomer 16-year-old Hezly Rivera, went out to compete at the finals chasing that number one spot.
“Team finals were a whole different story,” Chiles says. “Coming home with a gold medal, I think that's pretty cool to say we did what we needed to do. We redeemed ourselves, so hopefully the world loves us still. I couldn't be more proud of the girls.”
Chiles put on a show, being a key part of her team’s strength. She also made it to an individual final, something she hadn’t done at the last Olympics. Chiles’s floor routine garnered a ton of attention over the last few years once she began competing at UCLA. Her use of hip-hop and Black artistry in a largely white-dominated sports drew in an audience that only has continued to grow.
“Going into floor, being the last person to go, I'm not going to lie, my heart was beating really, really fast before I even started my floor routine,” Chiles says. “I was like, ‘You know what? Just do you. Do your normal. No matter what happens at the end, you already have accomplished so much within you being in Paris.’ I was happy. I was ready, and I finished my routine. My ankles hurt though, because of that short landing, I did not appreciate it, but I was very proud of myself.”
Chiles’s final floor moment was a rollercoaster of emotions. At the end of her routine, her score had her in fifth place. Viewers were startled, but prepared to not see Chiles on the podium. Slowly though, the room began to hold as a Team USA staffer submitted an inquiry to the judges on Chiles’s behalf. Moments later, Chiles beamed up at the scoreboard realizing she had actually placed third, receiving the bronze.
“There were so many emotions,” she says. “Obviously, if you look back on all the pictures that everybody took of me bawling my eyes out... I give congrats to every single person that was able to go out there and do their big one. That's hard to do when floor's the last event to go out of the whole Olympic cycle for gymnastics. I was really happy with myself. It really felt like, ‘Wow, I did something. I just got my first individual medal. This is beyond. I couldn't be more proud.’ It really made me realize everything that I sacrificed, and I could finally be like, ‘Okay, I did it.’”
Chiles has constantly been counted out. So, to go from thinking her story was finished at this Olympics to being a part of history isn’t something she takes lightly. “I think the biggest thing was, ‘Wow, I'm actually on that podium,’” she says. “In my head I think the last thing I really thought was, ‘We just made history,’ because it was an all-Black podium. I was in awe. I still have no words. If you ask me, I still am like... It's crazy.”
Beyond the all-Black podium, Chiles and Biles who received the bronze and silver, respectively, bowed down to gold medallist and Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade. Andrade has seen her own unnerving level of adversity with three ACL tears in the last few years. This camaraderie among competitors was viewed as a glowing moment in such an individualistic sport. When thinking about this podium that’ll go down in history for gymnastics, Chiles wants those coming up behind her to know that how you were born should never determine the dreams you’re allowed to aspire to.
“I think the biggest thing is the generation under us, giving them that perspective that it shouldn't be about your skin color, it shouldn't be about anything like that, just about the pure talent that each and every one of us had that was standing on that podium,” she says.
“I think it also gives recognition to knowing that while the diversity in our sport is getting a lot better and people are understanding that, our world is still going to be seen in black and white, it doesn't matter," she continues. "But if we can express ourselves … then it'll be easier to hopefully understand that. It's not just going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. [This moment] is always going to be known.”
While their official team name is the “Golden Girls,” the internet immediately was drawn into the initial name Biles jokingly threw out. “F*ck around and find out” or “FAAFO.” Most viewers loved the initial name because it truly leaned into this team’s choice to stick by one another amid negativity and doubters. This team was filled with women who aren’t afraid to show up as themselves and relish in the joys of their talent. They also aren’t afraid to speak their truth, especially when it comes to supporting one another.
“We had each other very shoulder to shoulder, head to head,” Chiles says. “Obviously, there were the four older ones and then having Hezly as being so young, we were trying to give her that guidance. I think it's really cool knowing that we all came back with a purpose, and we all came back with something within ourselves that we wanted to redeem.”
Chiles came, she saw and she conquered. And the greatest part of it all is that she isn’t done.
