Just after the Paris Olympics, Jordan Chiles faced a setback when her floor exercise bronze medal was revoked following an appeal. Despite the disappointment, she returned to UCLA to continue her collegiate gymnastics career but stayed away from elite competition. After graduating in 2026, it seemed her gymnastics journey might be coming to an end. However, Chiles surprised fans by announcing her return to elite gymnastics for the LA28 Olympics, even though she had initially decided to walk away from the sport. One unexpected moment changed her mind, and she has now revealed what inspired her to give gymnastics another chance.
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In an interview with Olympics.com, Chiles opened up about how she felt after returning to college following the Paris Games. “I went [back] into college and was like, ‘You know what? I’m done,’” Chiles said. “I had really nothing to give anymore.” For a while, she believed that was the end of her elite gymnastics career. She focused on her education, completed her final season with the UCLA Bruins, and finally had time to enjoy vacations that her demanding training schedule had rarely allowed.
Even after completing, Chiles did not immediately return to elite gymnastics. She explained that she had been enjoying college gymnastics so much that the thought of returning to the elite system initially felt frustrating. “I was loving being in the NCAA world so much that once I was out of it, I was like, ‘You know what? It’s irritating me. I don’t want to be around it anymore,’” she recalled. At that point, another Olympic campaign was far from certain. But the turning point came during a vacation in Cabo with her teammates.
Away from the gym and the pressure of competition, Chiles began to reconsider the future she had imagined for herself. “I just kind of woke up one day in Cabo and I was like, ‘You know what? Why not?’” she said. “Why not go to LA? Why not see where this next chapter takes me?” Her teammates encouraged her to take a chance rather than walk away without exploring what she could still achieve.
Their encouragement helped Chiles look at another Olympic campaign differently. Instead of treating LA28 as a test of whether she was good enough to make the team, she began to see it as an opportunity to discover her remaining potential. “I’ve become more mature. I’ve been in this peace era of mine. I’m happier,” Chiles said. “So I just told myself, ‘If you’re going to do this, do it on your terms.’”
With that mindset, Chiles began looking beyond the goal of making the Olympic team and toward what she could still accomplish in the sport.
Jordan Chiles wants to discover her full potential
Chiles’ decision to return is not just about making another Olympic team. “I’m not here to see if I’m going to make the team. I’m not here to see what competitions I’m going to be in,” she said. “I’m just here to see how much more potential I have within myself and within my body.” Her perspective has changed since she first entered elite gymnastics as a young athlete in 2013.
Back then, perfection was a constant expectation, and she was often judged by how well she executed every movement. Her years competing for UCLA helped her understand that mistakes do not define her as an athlete. “It’s the understanding that everything doesn’t have to be perfect in that moment, and that you can gradually get to where your next step is,” she explained.
Chiles also has some difficult skills in mind that she trained but never performed in competition. She revealed that her past training included tucked double-doubles, three-and-a-half twists on floor, and front triples. Now, she is training six days a week as she works toward a return to elite gymnastics. However, she is not rushing to compete before she feels ready. Her plans for her first competition remain open as she discusses the next steps with UCLA head coach Janelle McDonald.
“I’d rather be in the best shape and perfection as possible than just go out there to show the world, ‘Here’s the new Jordan,’” she said. And there is another reason this comeback means so much to her: the next Summer Olympics will take place in a city she now considers home. Having spent five years in Los Angeles while attending UCLA, Chiles feels a strong connection to the city that will host the 2028 Games.
After once believing she had nothing left to give, Chiles now has a new reason to return, and she is determined to make this next chapter her own.