The Romanian Prime Minister refused the closing ceremony: Our athlete was robbed of a medal – Paris 2024 Olympics – Summer Olympics

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu will not attend the closing ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris to protest the judges’ verdict against the Romanian gymnasts.

Ana Barbosuová only had time to enjoy the Romanian flag for a few seconds.

The politician does not like the way in which his compatriot Ana Barbosuová lost the bronze medal in the floor exercise.

The 18-year-old native of Foscani was in third place approximately thirty seconds into the race, but then the judges reconsidered the appeal of the American Jordan Chiles and gave her a 0.1 point higher mark. That was enough to move to the bronze step, just ahead of the Romanian. The topic was also covered by the British newspaper The Guardian.

“The referees acted in a dishonest way. Our athlete, I dare say, was robbed. It is unacceptable that in such a competition, which promotes values ​​such as respect and understanding, a girl who honestly won a medal should be brutally deprived of the result of her four years of work. I could not look at her tears and calmly accept that something like this is completely normal,” declared Ciolacu.

The gymnastics referees in Paris also earned a wave of criticism for their verdicts on another Romanian competitor, Sabrina Manecuova-Voinea, who was penalized for allegedly leaving the mat.

Without this penalty, Sabrina would have finished third, ahead of Chilesová and Ana Barbosuová. “The fact that hundreds of millions of viewers from all over the world, like us Romanians, were shocked by this terrible scene shows that there is something wrong somewhere in the system of organizing this competition,” added the Romanian politician, who also promised that both representatives would be seen in the country as bronze medal holder.

Romania, which in the past was among the gymnastics superpowers, experienced a crisis in this sport in the last decade. Manecuová-Voineaová and Barbosuová ensured that the Romanians were represented in the gymnastics part of the Games after a twelve-year hiatus.

The legendary former Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneciová also took a critical stance on the case of alleged damage to compatriots. She wrote on the X social network: “I can’t believe we play with the mental health and emotions of athletes like this.”