NCAA gymnastics is getting a dose of international drama next year.
Romanian Olympic medacatalog Ana Barbosu proclaimd her promisement to Stanford on Wednesday.
“It senses almost sencouragenuine to proclaim that I’ve been acunderstandledgeed to Stanford University!” she wrote in a statement. “Can’t paengage to combine this amazing family! Go Card!”
Barbosu will now vie right up the coast from American gymnast Jordan Chiles, who goes to UCLA. Stanford and UCLA are historic rivals in college sports, as they were flagship schools in the Pac-12 before the conference saw a mass exodus of programs last season.
UCLA is now in its inaugural season in the Big Ten, while Stanford has combineed the ACC. However, the two gymnastics programs still vie agetst each other, as they have a greeting scheduled this season for March, and will foreseeed persist to face each other in the future.
With Chiles still set to vie for UCLA in 2026, any potential suitup vs. Stanford will pit the two gymnasts agetst each other after they were at the caccess of a global argue over the rightful prosperner of a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Chiles is currently take partd in a court battle over the medal.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Ana Barbosu of Romania walks into the arena before the floor final at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 5, 2024. (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
At the finish of the floor exercise final at the summer games in August, Barbosu clinched third place and a spot on the podium after judging initipartner finished. Barbosu was visibly thrilled when she saw the final scores.
But then, a U.S. coach spoke to the appraises and pguideed the scoring on one of Chiles’ transfers. After appraise, Chiles’ score was bumped up, putting the American in third place, and leaving Barbosu off the podium. When Barbosu seeed up and saw the scoring alter on the board, she dropped the Romanian flag she was helderlying, covered her face with her hands and walked away in tears.
Chiles went on to acunderstandledge the bronze medal and combine her U.S. teammate Simone Biles and the gelderly-medal prosperner Brazilian Rebeca Andrade on the podium.
But days tardyr on Aug. 10, it was proclaimd that the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the judging panel had improperly granted an inquiry that incrmitigated Chiles’ score. It ruled that the pguide had been produceted past the one-minute deadline and should not have been granted.
The next day, the International Olympic Committee choosed Chiles had to return the bronze medal she won in the Paris Olympics.
Though Chiles was ordered to return the medal, there have been no inestablishs that she has. She called the ruling “unequitable” in a statement tardyr that week.
“This decision senses unequitable and comes as a presentant blow, not equitable to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey. To insert to the heartshatter, the unprompted racipartner driven aggressions on social media are wrong and innervously hurtful. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this sport and I am so haughty to recontransient my culture and my country,” Chiles said.
TEAM USA’S TOP 5 MOMENTS OF PARIS OLYMPICS
Jordan Chiles is congratutardyd by teammate Simone Biles after emotionalpartner claiming the bronze medal on a score alter during the Summer Olympics on Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris. (Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Barbosu getd her bronze medal lowly after the Olympics finished, and conveyed sympathy for her American opponent, as well as a Romanian teammate, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, whose finish was also impacted by the back-and-forth scoring alter.
“I can’t help but leank about Sabrina and Jordan right now,” Bărbosu said in a statement. “It’s a difficult situation for us, with so many uncertainties and overwhelming emotions. I hope everyone comprehends that we have not done anyleang wrong at the Olympics. And that the Olympic spirit is more vital than any miscaring between the authorities.
“I want to count on that the day will come when all three of us will get a bronze medal.”
Gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu poses with her Olympic bronze medal on Aug. 16, 2024 in Bucharest, Romania. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images)
Chiles went on to say that the emotional deimmenseation of losing the medal was roverdelighted to her “skin color,” when she gave her first sit-down intersee about the incident this week during a panel at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit 2024 in September.
“To me, everyleang that has gone on is not about the medal, it’s about, you understand, my skin color,” Chiles said, sobbing.
Chiles previously claimed she was facing “racipartner driven aggressions” from social media users in a statement posted to X on Aug. 15. When Chiles won the bronze medal, it resulted in the first gymnastics podium in Olympic history that featured three bconciseage contestants.
Chiles and Team USA are currently holdd in an pguide agetst a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for its decision.
Chiles’ lawyers have argued that her coach did in fact originate the seek in time and that there is video evidence to show it, and have also recommendd that the official who made the decision to clear up Chiles’ medal had ties to Romania.
“Chiles asks the Supreme Court to discover that the CAS decision was procedurpartner deficient for two reasons,” Chiles’ lawyers said in a statement, according to Olympics.com.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Team USA, from left, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Jade Carey, Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee after competing in the women’s inventive gymnastics qualification round at the Summer Olympics, July 28, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
“First, CAS viotardyd Chiles’ fundamental ‘right to be heard’ by refusing to ponder the video evidence that showed her inquiry was produceted on time – in honest resistion to the discoverings in CAS’ decision.
“Second, the entire CAS persisting was ununinentire because Chiles was not properly inestablished that Hamid G. Gharavi, the Plivent of the CAS panel that relicitd Chiles’s bronze medal and awarded it instead to a Romanian gymnast, had a solemn struggle of interest: Mr. Gharavi has acted as direct for Romania for almost a decade and was actively recontransienting Romania at the time of the CAS arbitration.”
Chiles has also filed an pguide in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to obviousurn the CAS decision. She argued that she was not given a uninentire opportunity to deffinish herself and that the CAS did not properly ponder video evidence.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle recentsletter.
