JORDAN CHILES TAKES the floor. Six months after the Paris Olympics, the 23-year-old reaches her arms out wide and strikes the opening pose of her Prince-inspired floor routine.
"Bruins fans, get on your feet and get loud," UCLA's in-arena announcer belts over the PA. "Let's continue this floor party with Jordan Chiles!"
Pauley Pavilion is electric. It's Alumni Day and the crowd is filled with UCLA gymnastics royalty and fans screaming Chiles' name. Everything comes down to her, the final gymnast to compete in this early-February conference matchup with Michigan State. Out on the floor, the two-time Olympian exudes confidence, but internally she is still struggling to find her way back to believing "I'm That Girl," her 2024 mantra for herself. "My relationship with gymnastics took a turn after the Olympics," Chiles says of the fallout surrounding her Olympic bronze medal on floor.
Right now, though, her teammates need a clutch performance.
The No. 6 Bruins started the meet with a solid rotation on vault but made errors on bars and beam and fell behind the No. 5 Spartans. Chiles has been sick all week and earned her lowest score all year on uneven bars. She missed a handstand, got lost in the middle of her routine and improvised a dismount she hasn't performed all season.
Heading into their final rotation on floor, the Bruins were down seven-tenths of a point and needed to be close to perfect to pull off a win. "We were like, 'We have nothing to lose,'" Chiles says. "Stay in our Bruin bubble and give the crowd what they came for -- the best show in L.A."
The show started strong. After five nearly flawless performances, the Bruins have closed the gap on Michigan State. A great performance from Chiles can seal the win.
When Chiles decided before Paris to return to UCLA to finish her final two seasons, she knew she could help the Bruins in moments like these. She knew she could lead them to their first NCAA title since 2018, a pursuit that begins with regional competition Thursday in Salt Lake City. But she had no idea how much she would need her UCLA teammates after the Olympics or how competing for the Bruins would help her move on from the controversy of the summer and rewrite the final chapters of her competitive career.
This moment is about more than a score. It's a crucial step toward healing her relationship with gymnastics. "Walking into the routine, I was like, this is Rock Star Jordan," Chiles says. "This is the Jordan that needs to let it out."
THERE IS SOMETHING particularly painful for Chiles about having her best event be a source of controversy and division. For years, when gymnastics fans thought of her, they conjured images of exuberant, powerful floor performances. They thought of the stories she told with routines choreographed to 1990s hip-hop, superhero theme songs and Beyonc. Since Paris, That Girl has become That Girl Who Had Her Medal Taken Away.
"It's still a struggle to talk about it," Chiles says in February. "Six months ago, I was not able to move."
What happened on the final day of competition in Paris has been well documented, and in her new book, "I'm That Girl," Chiles shares her version of events. "Not everybody gets an opportunity to tell their story," she says. "I know what happened. Everything was done right. It was devastating and heartbreaking to see people trying to tell a story they didn't live."
The last gymnast to compete in the Olympic floor final, Chiles' initial score placed her fifth, but U.S. coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi filed an inquiry into her difficulty score, which led the judges to change the score and elevate Chiles to third place, behind Simone Biles and Brazil's Rebecca Andrade. The next day, the Romanian federation appealed Chiles' score with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled that Canqueteau-Landi had filed her inquiry four seconds too late. The International Gymnastics Federation supported CAS's decision and reinstated the original finish order, again placing Chiles fifth and Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu third.
Six days after earning bronze, Chiles was back in the U.S. on a media tour when she learned the IOC was requesting that she return her medal. She is one of only a few athletes in Olympic history to have a medal revoked for anything other than a doping violation.
"I can still feel the joy and happiness I had when I won the bronze medal," Chiles says. "I was happy that I was able to stand on that podium with Simone and Rebecca because that's a lifelong dream of a little girl. But now, some days I don't get to think that way."
Within minutes of the IOC's announcement, Chiles received a barrage of criticism and racist comments online. She cut the tour short and removed herself from social media.
"Sometimes I don't post because I never know what the comments are going to say," Chiles says. "I don't like putting certain things out because I don't want to have to deal with somebody coming back negatively on me just having a good day."
Chiles has not returned her medal. In a small ceremony in Bucharest on Aug. 16, the IOC presented Barbosu with a bronze medal of her own. Chiles and her lawyers, with the support of USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, continue to fight. Her petition to restore her medal is now with the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, which could take months or years to rule.
The weeks after the Olympics were overwhelming. For days after she returned home, Chiles rarely left her room. "I was stuck in my bed. I was mentally gone, mentally not OK," she says.
During that time, her family and friends rallied around her. She says her teammates called and texted to check in. Other professional athletes and celebrities sent notes. Her parents reminded her that what mattered wasn't what happened after Paris, but how she responded to it. "I tell her, 'Do your best and forget the rest,'" her father, Tim Chiles, says. "Sometimes it seems like half the world is against her and half the world is for her. She lives in two different worlds, and she walks through both gracefully."
Her older sister, Jazmin Chiles, says that doesn't mean the walk isn't painful.
"It's easy to look at people in the spotlight and make assumptions that because they're carrying the burden beautifully that it's not heavy," Jazmin says. "That's just not the truth. As her older sister, I know it's heavy."
"CELEBRATE THAT ROUTINE!" Chiles yells from the far side of Yates Gym at UCLA's John Wooden Center. She and her teammates are here for an early-morning practice. Since returning to the squad in December, Chiles has made her presence known.
"All practice, I hear her like, 'I want you to smile! I want you to celebrate that stick, enjoy it,'" UCLA senior and 2024 Olympian Emma Malabuyo says. "Then she'll come up to us and be like, 'Wow, that was really good.' Or she'll give a compliment and say, 'You should be proud of that.'"
At meets, Chiles is involved in nearly every performance. She seems to know innately which teammates need to be hyped up and who needs to be calmed down and reminded, "You got this."
Chiles is known for being Team USA's hype woman, too, but it's a quieter moment that Malabuyo remembers from the Olympics. She was also in Paris, representing the Philippines. Before team qualification, Chiles invited Malabuyo to come to the room she was sharing with Biles so she could braid her hair. "It was very kind and such a sweet and authentic moment between us," Malabuyo says.
Those quiet moments of support have continued at UCLA. "Along this difficult road to nationals, she wants us to enjoy the process and recognize the small wins," Malabuyo says.
But Chiles doesn't always follow her own advice. "I remember she had one difficult day at practice and was like, 'Sometimes it's hard finding my identity with what happened this past summer,'" Malabuyo says.
Chiles' road back to finding her identity started this past September, when she joined her Paris teammates to begin rehearsing for Biles' Gold Over America Tour. Moving her body again felt good. Being around fellow gymnasts who knew what she was going through felt good. Over the next two months on tour, Chiles remembered how much she loved performing and hearing cheers from a crowd. City by city, show by show, she began to feel more like herself -- more like That Girl.
"I don't use it in a cocky way," Chiles says of her mantra, a nod to a Beyonc song. "I use it as an affirmation. When I look at myself in the mirror, and I have a rough day, I'm like, it's OK, because you're 'That Girl.' Every struggle, every tear, every punishment, ache, pain I had to go through, I was able to conquer."
During the tour, Chiles started choreographing a new floor routine set to a mashup of Prince songs. It was a way to help her move on from an Olympic routine that had become so charged with emotion.
"Artistic gymnastics isn't just about power tumbling. It's about beauty and art, and Prince was an artist. He's an icon, a legend. That's why I chose Prince," she says. "Everything I've gone through was let out into this new routine."
By the end of the tour, Chiles began looking forward to re-joining her UCLA teammates and practicing for the upcoming season. But there was still one thing she couldn't wrap her mind around. She didn't know how she would find the strength to walk onto a competition floor and allow her worth to be judged in such a tangible way. The last time she competed had spiraled into something that was still so traumatic.
"I thought, 'There's no way I'm going to compete on a competition floor again," Chiles says. "I'm going to get looked at. People are going to yell crazy things. The negativity is just going to keep coming.'"
But she had committed to returning to UCLA, and that meant pushing through those fears. It also meant being back among her teammates and coaches, creating new memories and celebrating small wins together. She performed her new floor routine in the practice gym and imagined she was at a meet. When she questioned herself on a bad day, Malabuyo told her that her worth didn't come from scores or a medal -- it came from showing up every day and being a great teammate.
"I just want Jordan to feel the joy that she gives to others," UCLA head coach Janelle McDonald says.
THE OPENING NOTES of Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" fill Pauley Pavilion, and Chiles comes to life. The crowd is right there with her, cheering and clapping along as she sticks her opening double layout cold. She's having fun, ad-libbing extra moments into her choreography and playing to the crowd. Finish strong and the Bruins can upset Michigan State.
If UCLA gymnastics is known for anything, it's standout floor performers. In her first stint with the Bruins, Chiles went viral -- and earned the 2023 national title -- with fast-paced '90s-themed hip-hop choreography. After the popularity and success of her Beyonc Olympic routine, she knew fans were expecting something big. As the anchor of UCLA's floor rotation, she wanted her performance to feel like the closing number of a stadium concert tour.
"We have Bruno Mars, Lana del Rey, Missy Elliott," she says of her teammates' routines. "Fans can sit in the audience at our meets, eat their popcorn and pretend they're seeing a concert. Hopefully during my routine, they can feel [Prince's] presence."
Chiles is on fire tonight. She nails her final double-back tumbling pass, launches into a full-twisting pike jump, ends on her knees and thrusts her fist into the sky. She holds her final pose an extra few seconds as fans in the student section toss blue-and-yellow confetti into the air and flash 10s with their hands. "She just brought the house down," McDonald says.
When both judges turn their scorecards and show 10s for the first time this meet, Chiles throws her hands up, leaps into the air and runs to the corner of the floor. She high-fives and hugs her teammates and jogs to her parents in the stands. When she returns to the floor, her teammates envelop her in celebration. They know how big this moment is for her, and they want her to take it all in. Not only did she find the courage to compete again, she came through when her team needed her most.
"We never gave up, and with Jordan getting her 10, I got so emotional," Malabuyo says. "The team wanted to show her you're one of us. We want you to enjoy gymnastics and find that passion and love for the sport again.'"
With Chiles' 10, the Bruins earn the highest score in the nation all season on floor, a 49.800. It's their best showing on the apparatus since 2020. They beat Michigan State by one-tenth of a point.
"When you felt like everything could be in shambles and there's one thing that can lift it up, that's what I felt like UCLA gymnastics did for me," Chiles says.
"ARE YOU SURE you don't want some lip gloss?"
Two days after the Michigan State meet, Chiles is back at Pauley for a TV interview and photo shoot. Jazmin is here too. She's been doing Chiles' hair and makeup since she was a kid -- "I used to dress her up in Build-a-Bear clothes, because she was so small," Jazmin says -- and she just put the finishing touches on today's look. But before Chiles sits for her interview, Jazmin thinks she could use a pop of color.
"I'm sure," Chiles says. "I don't like wearing gloss when I'm talking on camera."
"OK," Jazmin says. "Whatever you want."
Although she disagrees, big sister doesn't push her lip gloss agenda. She sees her role as a facilitator for her little sister's wishes. She says when Chiles is in her chair, they rarely talk. Chiles prefers to sit with her in comfortable silence. "Everyone is always telling her what to do," Jazmin says. "When she's with me, I give her some reprieve. I ask her, 'What are you feeling? How do you want to represent yourself today? How can I help you feel the most comfortable and beautiful?'"
Chiles is a natural in front of the camera, and shoots like these are a mainstay now that NIL allows Olympians, with rosters of sponsors and advertising deals, to compete in the NCAA. Along with the typical responsibilities of being a student-athlete -- like classes, practice and competition -- Chiles is a popular invitee at red-carpet events and is one of America's most wanted by magazines and award shows.
Next weekend, she'll star in Nike's first Super Bowl ad since 1998, play in the NFL's flag football game in New Orleans, even catching a pass from retired quarterback Michael Vick, and attend the big game. At the end of the month, she'll be honored as one of Time's Women of the Year. Most importantly, NCAAs are just around the corner.
After starting the season ranked outside of the top 10, the Bruins will win the Big 10 title in March and head to regionals ranked No. 5 in the nation. Chiles and her teammates believe they have the potential to be among the final four teams at NCAA championships in Fort Worth, Texas, beginning April 17. Chiles also has her sights set on regaining her 2023 uneven bars and floor titles, and competing for titles on beam, vault and in the all-around.
"We still have not hit all our events at once," Chiles says. "Once we do, it's going to be a show. Hopefully that time comes during the postseason, and we just light it up."
Had she not returned to UCLA, Chiles' gymnastics career likely would have ended with the GOAT tour. Her final memories of competing on floor would be wrapped up in lawsuits and online abuse. Now her most recent gymnastics memories include her teammates, celebrations and talk of a national championship. She thinks back on the Michigan State meet and her first 10 on floor this season, earned in such a spectacular, meaningful way. In the moment, it was thrilling. But today, after more reflection, it feels even more significant.
"My team was there supporting me. My coaches were there supporting me. Everybody in that arena was there supporting me," Chiles says. "I was like, this is what it's like to compete. I finally could feel that again. It was lost for a while. It made me feel like, I still have it in me. I can push forward and let everything behind me be finally laid to rest."
