Nearly two years after the Paris Olympics bronze medal dispute between Romania's Ana Barbosu and American gymnast Jordan Chiles, the case is headed back to the CAS. After Switzerland's Federal Supreme Court ordered a fresh hearing, Romania initially faced uncertainty over funding its legal defense. Those concerns have now been resolved after Parliament approved an amendment allowing the COSR to finance the country's representation before CAS.
Following the development, Barbosu shared a message thanking those who made Romania's legal defense possible.
"Thank you very much for the support and efforts made to make it possible to represent the Romanian side before the court in Lausanne. I always remain confident that the state fights for its most trusted ambassadors, the athletes." (Translated from Romanian into English using Google Translate).
Interestingly, the post was issued in the wake of weeks of doubt regarding Romania's participation in the reopened arbitration. In January, the original Court of Arbitration for Sport decision was overturned in part, and the case sent back for a new hearing, due to the new evidence presented by USA Gymnastics determining whether it is possible that Jordan Chiles' score inquiry was submitted within the required one-minute period.
When the case was brought back to CAS in Lausanne, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation estimated that defending Bărbosu's Olympic bronze medal would cost around 250,000 Swiss francs for lawyers, expert opinions, translations, a procedural fee and other legal costs. At that time, COSR stated that it had resources on hand, but under current laws, it was not legally able to use public funds for legal representation in international sports conflicts.

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