Jordan Chiles Is a Bounce-Back Specialist

The two-time Olympian is owning her story.

Jordan Chiles was photographed by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton. Swimsuit by I.AM.GIA. / Ben Horton/Sports Illustrated

It’s virtually impossible to pick just one word to describe Jordan Chiles—but, if you really had to, resilient would be a pretty darn good one. At just 24 years old, the gymnast has endured her fair share of hardships and obstacles. One example: the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. After Chiles competed in the floor exercise final, her coach submitted an inquiry that led to the gymnast’s score being raised by a tenth of a point, earning her a bronze medal in the event.

That performance led to an unforgettably historic moment as three Black gymnasts—Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles and Chiles—shared the podium. But days later, Chiles’s medal was stripped away after the Romanian Gymnastics Federation lodged an appeal and the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided the inquiry from her coach had come in too late. 

https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/v1746475655/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/si_swimsuit/01jth0z2mcv4wf700ex3.jpg. https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/v1746475653/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/si_swimsuit/01jth0z2kjbjp5ap8get.jpg. More Jordan Chiles. Jordan Chiles In Issue. View the Full Gallery. https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/v1746475660/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/si_swimsuit/01jth0z2wxecgd64kpe7.jpg. Meet the Cover Model

“I was in a car when I found out,” says Chiles. “You know when something happens and it’s like everything around you disappears and you can hear your own heart beating? Well, I could hear my heart breaking piece by piece—I felt it from the tips of my fingers to my toes.”

The outrage online was immediate, with many pointing out that the decision felt unfair because the committee had refused to look at footage reportedly showing the inquiry had come in on time. (Per the rules, Chiles’s coach had just one minute after her score was posted to appeal.) Chiles—who won a gold medal in the team event to go with her team silver from the Tokyo Games in 2021—is fighting to have the decision reversed.

“After it happened, I was not O.K.—I was in the gutter,” she says. “It was hard, but I eventually had to put it on the back burner so that I could continue to live my life.” And live her life she has. In the months following the Olympics, Chiles picked herself off the proverbial floor and has come back stronger than ever.

Jordan Chiles was photographed by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton. Swimsuit by Yasmine Eslami. / Ben Horton/Sports Illustrated

In the past year, she was named one of Time’s Women of the Year, walked the runway at New York Fashion Week and appeared in a Super Bowl ad for Nike. And, of course, she became an SI Swimsuit model—something she says was a dream come true.

“I manifested this. Three years ago I was on a girls’ trip in Hawaii and was pretending that I was doing a Sports Illustrated shoot,” Chiles says. “I literally said, ‘One day, I’m going to be an SI model.’ ” In many ways, Chiles says that working with SI Swimsuit served as a balm to soothe the pain she experienced over the past year. “It allowed me to experience a different side of myself—I was able to embrace my beauty and just be fully myself,” she says.

Something else that has helped Chiles bounce back was returning to UCLA and rejoining the Bruins’ gymnastics team, which was the runner-up at the 2025 NCAA championships. (Chiles won the individual uneven bars event.) “I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to bring myself to compete again after what happened,” Chiles admits. “But UCLA has amazing students and athletes and I wanted to be a part of that again—I missed my team and competing with them brought joy back into gymnastics for me.” 

The start of Chiles’s gymnastics career is yet another example of how she’s dealt with adversity in her life only to come back stronger. “I had bad ADHD when I was younger. I was bouncing off the walls and would do really crazy things because I had a lot of energy,” she shares. “My parents first put me in gymnastics to get some of that energy out. I ended up pouring everything I had into it and it saved my life. Suddenly, I was able to pay attention at school and focus while having conversations with family members—I don’t know where I’d be without gymnastics.” 

Though it is evolving, gymnastics hasn’t historically been known for diversity—something Chiles had to navigate as a young woman. In her recently released book, I’m That Girl, she shares a story about having her braids cut off by a coach who didn’t think they were in line with how a gymnast should look. “I didn’t realize what was happening at the time,” she says. “But as I got older, I believe that event shifted something inside me and made me want to embrace my uniqueness more.” 

Jordan Chiles was photographed by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton. Swimsuit by RIELLI. / Ben Horton/Sports Illustrated

Now, Chiles often competes with elaborate nail designs and she has a number of tattoos. “I’m an artistic gymnast, and I’m going to paint my canvas the way I want to,” she says, adding that she will very likely get more tattoos. “I have over 20 and they’re all on my left side, with the exception of the Olympic rings on my right side. My right side is my dominant side and I feel like that is my conquering side. My left side is quirkier. I’ve had surgery on my left side and most of my injuries happen on that side—I’m honoring that side by adding beauty to it with my tattoos.” 

Staying true to herself—tattoos and all—is the secret sauce when it comes to Chiles’s resilience. “I’ve gone through a lot of trauma,” she says. “And when bad things happen, I look in the mirror and tell myself that I will always be able to straighten my crown so that I can continue to be authentic to myself and strive for greater things. I’ve only got one life and I am going to live it the best I can.”