In this case, believe the hype.
Rapper Flavor Flav and US Olympian Jordan Chiles had a sweet moment together at the 2024 VMAs in New York on Wednesday.
The duo opened the MTV Video Music Awards as the show’s first presenters of the evening. While on stage, Flav took a moment to acknowledge the stripping of Chiles’ 2024 Olympic bronze medal.
The “Can’t Truss It” artist, 65, surprised the gymnast, 23, with a bronze clock necklace to replace it.
“I know they’re trying to take your medal away from you but you know what — I got you something that they can’t take away from you,” Flav, who sponsored the US Women’s water polo team at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, said before handing her the rose gold bling.
“That’s why I wanted to turn this into an Olympic moment, Jordan,” he continued. “And guess what else, too? I got your prize money, too. I got that for you. I just wanted to surprise you with that.” (All Olympic athletes take home a monetary prize.)
Flav added, “Jordan, you did your thing. Congratulations. You deserve everything.”
“Wow, I don’t know what to say,” Chiles responded. “Thank you so much.”
Flav’s sweet gesture comes as the Olympian continues to fight for her bronze medal. Last month, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced that they would appeal the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that resulted in her being stripped of her bronze medal in the floor exercise.
At the Games, CAS retroactively knocked Chiles from third in the event down to fifth, saying that the inquiry that improved her score by one-tenth of a point came four seconds after the time limit to make such inquiries.
The International Gymnastics Federation and International Olympic Committee both agreed they would adhere to the CAS decision, meaning that Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu would win bronze with Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, Barbosu’s teammate, in fourth.
“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed,” the USOPC said in a statement at the time. “The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision. As a result, we were not properly represented or afforded the opportunity to present our case comprehensively.”
In August, Flav explained why he made Chiles her own clock chain.
“One of the best feelings that an athlete can have is when they’re winning or when they won something, you feel me,” he told USA Today at the time. “I’m quite sure that for Jordan Chiles, and any other athlete that ever went through that … how devastating the feeling can be.
“The bronze clock that I made for Jordan Chiles, it’s a gift of love. It’s a gift of appreciation,” he added. “It’s a gift of ‘We recognize who you are, we appreciate who you are.’ That girl went out there and performed her behind off for that medal. She rightfully won the medal.”
The Public Enemy icon first tweeted the decked-out necklace after news of Chiles losing her medal, writing, “USA gonna Fight the Powers that be,,, in the meantime between time,,, Imma always a man of my word @ChilesJordan.”
The athlete’s mom, Gina Chiles, responded, “Thank you. Means the world. She’s not on socials right now as you can imagine. I’ll share it with her.”
Chiles’ teammate and fellow Olympian Simone Biles addressed the controversy via Instagram.
“Sending you so much love Jordan,” she wrote. “Keep your chin up Olympic champ! We love you!”
Teammate Suni Lee also posted on her Instagram stories, “All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?? Completely unacceptable. This is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan. I got your back forever jo. U have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an Olympic champion.”
On Wednesday, Chiles admitted she felt like she had been “left in the dark” amid the fallout.
“The biggest thing that was taken from me was that it was the recognition of who I was, not just my sport, but the person I am,” Chiles said at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit. “To me, everything that has gone on, it’s not about the medal, it’s about my skin color. It’s about the fact that there were things that have led up to this position of being an athlete, and I felt like everything has been stripped.”
“I can feel it now,” she continued, “but at first it was really hard to really take that in because of how badly my heart was broken.”
Regardless of what happens, Chiles walked away with her head held high.
“I made history and I will always continue to make history, and something that I rightfully did, I followed the rules. My coach followed the rules. We did everything that was totally, completely right,” she concluded. “I’m going to shine bright, because the star is never gonna get dimmed and I’m always just gonna keep walking forward.”