Jordan Chiles Expresses Gratitude After Coach's Support During Bronze Medal Controversy: ‘I Can’t Thank Her Enough’

Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles opened up about the moment her coach Cécile Canqueteau-Landi stood up for her after receiving online criticism following her bronze-medal winning floor routine.

“Having her by my side, sticking up for me, I think it’s really cool, because you never know with what social media – Social media just sucks in general,” Jordan, 23, said during an interview with Access Hollywood published on Thursday, August 8. “But I appreciate what she did, and I can’t thank her enough. With times like that, it does get hard. Mentally, physically, emotionally for a lot of people, so I do thank her for that.”

Jordan’s comments come just two days after Cecile took to social media to defend the Olympian, saying, “I shouldn’t have to explain but I will ONCE.” 

“Jordan’s highest possible [start value] on floor is a 5.9—At quals and team finals she received a 5.8 and we didn’t question it because we saw that not all the elements were completed,” she explained. 

The controversy stemmed from the August 5 event in which Jordan took home bronze, teammate Simone Biles landed the silver medal and Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade walked away with the gold. Jordan – who was last to perform at the Paris event finals – originally scored a 13.666, which put her in fifth place with Romania’s Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca–Voinea tied for the bronze medal position. 

However, Celine and coach Laurent Landi submitted an inquiry to the judges regarding Jordan’s difficulty and start value. Ultimately, her score was boosted by 0.100, which bumped her up above Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea. 

During her interview with Access Hollywood, Jordan gushed about how she considers Cecile “as another mom.” 

“She’s done so much for me just within my gymnastics and within my confidence for myself. When I first moved to Texas, I was like, ‘I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I don’t know anything like that,” she continued.  

The emotions were high following the judges’ decision, but Jordan – who had lost her voice after cheering on her teammates earlier in the week – said, “This is just a dream come true. It’s my first time ever in an event final. Like we said, it was a redemption tour. I just wanted to come out and do the best I could. This medal means everything. I have no words.”

“There was so many emotions. Obviously if you look at the pictures, I’m crying, boohooing. The most ugliest cry I’ve ever seen myself do. But I think just in that moment, it just it felt right,” she told Access Hollywood. “It felt like, ‘Wow, I actually did something.’ You know, what had happened, it could go either way. It could go up, it could go down, it could stay the same. I was just happy. And my coaches, and I’m pretty sure even Simone [Biles] said, that she was more happy for me than for herself. Which is crazy to say, but I definitely felt every emotion that was happening.”