The Olympian told Business Insider at Wednesday’s Forbes Power Women’s Summit that life “has been up and down and left and right. At this rate, I feel like I’m in a tornado, but I’ve been enjoying it.”
Looking at Chiles’ schedule over the last two weeks, it’s no wonder she feels like she’s in a whirlwind. On Wednesday, she was spotted onstage at the MTV Video Music Awards; she had a quick stop at the US Open last week and participated in multiple fashion and beauty ventures.
It comes after the heartbreaking moment when the 23-year-old Olympian was stripped of a bronze medal for her individual floor exercise final in Paris.
Chiles originally finished fifth during the Olympic event, but when her coaches challenged the results, she was awarded a higher score and the bronze medal spot held by Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu.
However, the Romanian gymnastics team challenged the change, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of the European country.
An emotional Chiles speaks about being stripped of her Olympic bronze medal for the first time
Chiles discussed the headline-making moment in detail for the first time at the Forbes summit.
“The biggest thing that was taken from me was the recognition of who I was — not just my sport, but the person I am,” Chiles told Forbes’ executive vice president Moira Forbes onstage.
“To me, everything that has gone on is not about the medal. It’s about my skin color,” she continued. “It’s about the fact there were things that have led up to this position of being an athlete. And I felt like everything has been stripped.“
Business Insider reached out to the International Gymnastics Federation, the International Olympic Committee, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Chiles also told Forbes that the experience led her to lose her love of gymnastics, which she had previously felt in 2018.
“I lost it again,” she said. “I felt like I was really left in the dark.”
But Chiles said she’s hoping to quickly move past the dark spot threatening to shadow her Olympic experience.
“Simone [Biles] has changed the game of the sport, and I feel like I have changed the culture of the sport,” she said onstage. “I’ve been trying to really take that into consideration because I’m the person I am. God created me to be the person I am. I was put on this earth for a reason.”
Chiles added that she wants people to understand that while she’s a professional athlete, she’s first and foremost a human being.
“Me being human and understanding life comes before my sport,” she said.
Chiles is onto her next move, and she has her sights set on fashion and beauty
And that’s where Chiles’s focus is now — looking beyond her career as an athlete.
“I love the business aspect of everything,” she told BI at the event. “Gymnastics is not always gonna be with me. Who knows how long I’ll do it for? At the end of the day, I’ve gotta figure out what to do with my life.”
So far, Chiles has a deep passion and interest in the beauty and fashion industries. Recently, she’s walked the Kim Shui runway at New York Fashion Week, made social-media content for Vaseline, and participated in a makeup campaign with Milani Cosmetics.
She told BI that she’s chosen each project because the companies and teams behind them understand her as a person, not just an athlete.
“I’m a fashion girl. I love everything about it,” she added, “…Everything is all about what I love and what I enjoy doing especially fashion.”
“These are new opportunities for me, and I’m just going to continue to shine as bright as I can,” Chiles said.
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