The Summer Olympics in Paris have not been without drama. That much is by now well known.
We had more of it on Monday from France. It involved the individual floor exercise in women’s gymnastics. Ana Barbosu of Romania seemed to have taken bronze from America’s Jordan Chiles.
In fact, she was up on the podium with gold medal winner Rebeca Andrade and silver medalist Simone Biles. That’s when the United States opted to challenge Chiles’ score. It resulted in a 0.1-point increase, giving Chiles bronze over Barbosu.
This rarely happens in the Olympics. That is to say, judges changing their scores after the fact. It also created a ton of drama in Paris. That now includes the leader of Romania.
Related: Simone Biles And Jordan Chiles Pay Ultimate Respect To Rebeca Andrade After Gold At Summer Olympics
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu To Boycott Closing Ceremony Of Summer Olympics
Ciolacu was not too happy to see Barbosu up on the podium representing his country with the Romanian flag, only to see her stripped of a medal.
It’s now leading to him protesting by boycotting the closing ceremony on August 11.
“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 dishonorable manner,” Ciolacu said in a Facebook post (h/t Fox News). “To withdraw a medal earned for honest work on the basis of an appeal … is totally unacceptable!”
The frustration is understandable. Not representing your country in front of the rest of the world is a completely different story.
Though, Ciolacu did have a good point regarding the hard work and dedication that it took for Barbosu to get to Paris.
“You have with you an entire nation for which your work and tears are more precious than any medal, no matter what precious metal they are from,” Ciolacu wrote.
Fellow Romanian and Olympic legend Nadia Comăneci mirrored what the prime minister had to say.
“I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them,” the five-time gold medal winner wrote on X.
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