UCLA Gymnastics Confirms Big News Around Jordan Chiles Amid DWTS Announcement

Fresh off the Paris Games, where she lost a bronze on floor after a technical ruling, Jordan Chiles returned to Westwood determined to perform at her highest level. She captured her second NCAA uneven bars crown with a near-perfect 9.9750, shared the Big Ten floor title with her second perfect 10 of the season, and expanded her career tally of All-America honors to 16, placing her fourth all-time at UCLA. Alongside three NCAA Regional victories, a perfect 10 on bars, and 29 individual wins, her campaign underscored both consistency and resilience. Still, in July, she made it clear her eyes were not yet fixed on Los Angeles 2028.

“For now, I’m still embracing Paris. I’m still embracing the moments that we’ve all had since Paris. I have one more year of college and then we’ll just go from there.” While her Olympic future remains uncertain, Chiles has confirmed that her gymnastics career at UCLA continues, and she has paired that decision with a place in the cast of Dancing with the Stars. The 34th season of the show, announced on Good Morning America, will see Chiles compete alongside partner Ezra Sosa, balancing the glitz of the ballroom with her collegiate training in Pauley Pavilion. And with that, UCLA Athletics confirmed something, too.

They confirmed Inside Gymnastics that she will remain with the Bruins during the quarter, signaling that her dual commitments will run in parallel. And Chiles did not disguise her anticipation for the challenge.

Speaking on Good Morning America, she admitted, “I don’t know if my training for gymnastics is really going to help too much with the training of dancing, but I definitely can say that work ethic, the part that I feel confident is definitely there.” She added with a smile, “What I’m very best known at is to flip, so I’m hoping, just incorporating that as much as I can.”

The season premieres on September 16, where she will take the floor as one of the most decorated athletes in the lineup. Her inclusion in the series follows years of interest.

When asked by USA TODAY Sports in an earlier interview if she believed she could thrive on the dance floor, Chiles reflected, “I mean, a lot of people say I have really good dance moves. I mean, I like dancing, like you know, being involved in like that area.” She explained further, “I told myself, you know, if I wasn’t an athlete, I would definitely be in the dance music area of things.” That sentiment, once speculation, has now found its stage.

Chiles joins a company that has proven favorable to gymnasts in the past. Shawn Johnson (Season 8) and Laurie Hernandez (Season 23) both secured the mirrorball trophy, while Simone Biles and Aly Raisman made memorable runs in seasons 24 and 16, respectively. For Chiles, who has already carried UCLA to a runner-up team finish and remains hungry for a national title, the dual pursuit of collegiate gold and ballroom success reflects a broader vision of possibility. And her announcement also came with her characteristic flair as well.

Wearing a striking blue dress on Good Morning America, she wrote on her own platform, “Chat — we made it!!!! DWTS!!!” That enthusiasm may well mirror her approach to the year ahead. A return to the mats of NCAA gymnastics, coupled with a public embrace of the dance floor, marks the next chapter in a career that has consistently blended athletic mastery with a sense of personality and resolve. However, amid all these happenings, Jordan Chiles continued to weigh her future in gymnastics as the Paris medal dispute lingered, keeping Los Angeles 2028 firmly within her sights.

Jordan Chiles keeps Olympic dream alive as Paris medal fight drags into second year

One year after the contentious ruling that altered her place on the Paris podium, Jordan Chiles had not abandoned the possibility of one last Olympic stage. The legal dispute over her floor medal remained unresolved, yet her attention had already shifted toward the horizon of Los Angeles 2028. At 24, she had spent seasons balancing collegiate triumphs with international commitments, and her words reflected both weariness and determination.

“It’s on my mind,” she told People. “It’s not completely out of my head. I still think about it.”

Her immediate path lay with UCLA, where she declared she would return for her senior campaign in 2026. That decision offered her both a familiar platform and a proving ground as she weighed whether to extend her career into a third Olympic cycle. “Yes, I’m coming back. I’m not leaving the Bruins,” she said in the spring, describing her eagerness to “bring back that natty for real for real this time.” Even as she celebrated another NCAA uneven bars title, her third overall, the question of how long her body and spirit could sustain the demands of elite gymnastics lingered in the background.

For now, Chiles had granted herself rare respite, traveling to Miami with teammates and allowing time away from training. She admitted the relentlessness of the years since Tokyo had taken its toll, but she spoke of being “hungry for more.” The medal controversy persisted in courtrooms abroad, yet the real question resided closer to home.

Whether Los Angeles would mark the culmination of her journey or simply another chapter in a career that had already stretched across eras of American gymnastics.