Setbacks at Paris Olympics: Chiles’ Bronze and Marin’s Injury:
It is tragic when injuries and ill luck ruin an athlete’s performance at the Olympics after years of training and dedication to winning big. While Indian competitors have seen their fair share of unfortunate events during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, let’s look at some foreign athletes who were not blessed with good fortune throughout the competition:
Jordan Chiles:
Jordan Chiles: During the women’s floor exercise final in Paris in 2024, Jordan Chiles’ Olympic adventure took an unfavorable turn. Chiles and her team rejoiced when her score was adjusted to 13.766, giving her the bronze medal, after she had originally been granted a score of 13.666, ranking her fifth. But the festivities only lasted a few days. The USA Gymnastics appeal was filed four seconds after the one-minute limit, according to the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, which was representing athletes Ana BĎrbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) agreed with Romania after a week of deliberations, concluding that the appeal was lodged too late.
As a result, BĎrbosu received the bronze and Chiles lost her medal. The CAS maintained its ruling, claiming that their regulations do not permit reconsideration even in the presence of fresh information, even after USA Gymnastics produced new evidence demonstrating that the investigation was filed within the statutory time frame. It’s unclear whether Chiles has returned the medal or how long the judicial process will take to resolve this unsolved matter.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce,
the three-time Olympic gold medallist from Jamaica, suffered a regrettable defeat at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris when she had to withdraw from the women’s 100-meter semifinals because of an injury she had suffered during warm-ups. Her absence was verified just minutes before the race, with “Did Not Start” (DNS) showing on the scoreboard. Officials from the team acknowledged the injury, but they did not elaborate. Later, in a social media statement, Fraser-Pryce thanked her fans and shared her profound disappointment, but she didn’t go into detail about her health. Following the earlier reports that other Jamaican sprinters Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson would also not compete in the 100 meters due to injury and strategic considerations, respectively, the withdrawal was a difficult time for Jamaica. Fraser-Pryce’s absence was especially noteworthy because she has gained prominence in the Olympic sprinting community since making her debut in 2008.
Noah Lyles:
Lyles was expected to win the 200 meters and was hoping to make history by being the first American man to win both the sprint double at the Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984. Despite having won the 100 meters before, Lyles’ Olympic career was cut short.
Carolina Marin:Just two days before the men’s 200-meter final at the 2024 Olympics, Noah Lyles tested positive for COVID-19, putting him in a difficult situation. Even though Lyles woke up with symptoms like chills, body aches, and a scratchy throat, he still made the decision to compete after seeing a doctor. Despite making it to the final, his condition was clearly evident in how he performed. With a run of 19.70 seconds, Lyles finished third in the race, considerably short of his personal best and his goal of breaking Usain Bolt’s world record. Lyles struggled to keep up with the competition. Lyles was affected by the sickness and needed medical attention after the race due to chest pain and shortness of breath.
Carolina During her semifinal match against He Bingjiao, Marin’s dreams of making a surprise run at the 2024 Olympics were dashed. Following a protracted recuperation from a knee injury that prevented her from competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Marin led the second game and appeared certain to win. Merely eleven points from winning a spot in the final, she fell awkwardly to the court, bruising her previously wounded knee. She was determined to keep going, but the pain became too great, and she had to leave the match. Later on, her coach attested to Marin’s belief that her knee was “broken.”
Simone Biles and Suni Lee:
Due to difficulties encountered during the 2024 Olympic balance beam final, neither gymnast was able to place on the podium. Midway through her routine, Biles lost her balance and had to exit the beam; she finished with a score of 13.100, sharing fifth place with Lee. A wobble and overcompensation caused Lee, who was going for a record-breaking seventh Olympic medal, to tumble off the beam as well, costing her the opportunity to win a medal. Biles, who had already taken home bronze in the beam competition at the Olympics in 2016 and 2020, had intended to build on her outstanding ten-medal haul. For the first time since 2000, an American gymnast failed to make it to the finals.
