Most athletes talk about injuries in terms of timelines and recovery. Jordan Chiles talks about them as time lost forever. That shouldn’t be surprising because for a gymnast, there is no next week’s game or next season’s shot. For them, there is one Olympic cycle, years in the making, and no guarantee of another. When something goes wrong in that window, Chiles has learned, it doesn’t just hurt the body.

It’s why, when asked who the injuries would hurt the most: an Olympian, an NBA player, or a rapper, Chiles asserted that it was always going to be the Olympian.

“Injury, I feel like I would have to say the Olympics,” Chiles said on the Ball in the Family podcast. “Only because when you’re on an Olympic stage, your ability, like, that, that’s your last chance out of the, you know, the years. Like, it’s not just four years we’re working.

“We’re working our whole life. So, when we’re in that moment, and something happens, it really hurts. It really takes a toll mentally.”

However, the former UCLA Bruins star did feel for rappers. “Now, with rapping, I feel like it’s more of a pride thing because it’s like, man, if my album didn’t get selected for something or I didn’t get an award, it’s like, okay, I can take it, rap about it, and then hopefully that makes people understand,” she added. “Unlike the Olympics, [where] we can’t go back and do it all over again.”

And nobody knows that better than Jordan Chiles.

The now 25-year-old two-time Olympic medalist has been through the wringer during her career. From her mother being sent to federal prison to her aunt and grandfather passing away, as well as her battle with ADHD, Chiles always managed to put the right foot forward, becoming one of the elite gymnasts around.

She thrived at the collegiate level for the Bruins, leading them to a silver medal in the team event at the 2025 NCAA Championships. While she secured numerous individual titles during her time at UCLA, Chiles missed out on a team title. And the American did all that while battling with her fair share of injuries. 2019 was one of her worst years as she had to undergo surgery to repair torn cartilage in August.

It had fans worried with the Tokyo Olympics set to take place in a year, but that eventually got delayed to 2021. That allowed Chiles to heal her wrist and her dislocated toe, which she also injured in 2019. Then, in the lead-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, the now 25-year-old was suffering from both knee and shoulder issues.

It led to her pulling out of a few competitions. Then, in July 2024, Gymnastics Now reported that Chiles suffered a “partially torn LCL and fractured fibula in March”. It’s why the Bruins star pulled out of the 2024 Winter Cup, following medical advice. Once again, fans were worried about whether she would make the cut for Paris, but her mother assuaged those fears.

Chiles did indeed make it to the Paris Olympics, played a key role in Team USA winning the team gold medal, and picked up a bronze medal in the floor event. Then controversy struck, and officials officially awarded the medal to Ana Barbosu of Romania. That, alongside the criticism and hate, hurt Chiles more than any injury ever had, so much so that she considered never competing again.

Jordan Chiles opens up on how Paris affected her

In 2024, Jordan Chiles was far from the favourite to win a medal at the Paris Olympics. The American had entered the competition only after injuries to other gymnasts gave her a place. Thus, not much was expected. But Chiles showed up and showed out. Not only that, the now 25-year-old finished second to Simone Biles to qualify for the floor exercise final.

It pitted her against some of the best, and as the last gymnast to compete, she knew exactly what she had to do. And Chiles did it, although her initial score placed her fifth. That changed after coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi filed an inquiry, moving her into third behind Biles and Rebeca Andrade. The very next day, however, the Romanian federation appealed her score, ruling that the inquiry was filed late.

Six days later, the IOC asked her to return the bronze medal, moving Chiles to fifth and giving Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu the bronze. That hit the Bruins star hard, and the criticism and abuse after the fact affected her so much that she believed she would never compete again.

“I thought, ‘There’s no way I’m going to compete on a competition floor again,” Chiles told ESPN. “I’m going to get looked at. People are going to yell crazy things. The negativity is just going to keep coming.’”

For Jordan Chiles, winning that Olympic medal was one of the happiest moments of her life. Now, however, with her appeal still ongoing, the American can’t feel that way.

“I can still feel the joy and happiness I had when I won the bronze medal,” Chiles added. “I was happy that I was able to stand on that podium with Simone and Rebeca because that’s a lifelong dream of a little girl. But now, some days I don’t get to think that way.”

However, thanks to her Bruins teammates and coaches, and several others, Chiles did return to the mat. That’s even if she believed the joy she got from competing was “lost for a while”. And now, having retired from collegiate gymnastics, only time will tell whether she returns at LA 2028 to earn herself another Olympic medal.