Jordan Chiles, Fred Richard, Kendall Ellis and other Paris Olympians and Paralympians get honor from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum

Jordan Chiles, Fred Richard, and Kendall Ellis, among others, were honored by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, which released ten new limited-edition bobbleheads. Chiles recently won the gold as part of the US women's gymnastics team and Richard earned the bronze as part of the US men's gymnastics team at the Paris Olympics.

Chiles, 23, finished fifth on the floor routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics but was upgraded to bronze following her team's inquiry. However, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation claimed that the US team crossed the one-minute deadline and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports to overturn the decision. After further hearing, CAS ruled that Chiles' bronze medal should be returned, which left several fans and fellow athletes rallying against the injustice.

However, Chiles also received support in the form of a bronze stopwatch by popular American rapper and advocate for women's sports, Flavor Flav. She was recently honored with her bobblehead doll by the National Hall of Fame and Museum alongside Fred Richard, Kendall Ellis, and other Paris Olympians and Paralympians.

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Interestingly, Chiles' bobblehead had two medals around its neck, a gold and a bronze.

Fred Richard contributed scores on the parallel bars, horizontal bar, floor exercise, and rings to the US men's gymnastics team's bronze finish at the quadrennial Games. At the 2023 World Championships, the Michigan native's individual bronze marked the first men's all-around medal since 2010.

Kendal Ellis, the 4x400m relay gold and 4x400m mixed relay bronze medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, also joined the likes of the gymnasts in the Bobblehead squad.

Jordan Chiles and Richard are currently on the Gold Over America tour, which embarked on September 17 and will continue till November 3, 2024.

Simone Biles has been the biggest supporter of Jordan Chiles both in and out of the gym

Jordan Chiles and Simone Biles at the Olympic Games Paris 2024: Source: Getty

Simone Biles, the oldest gymnast in Team USA's women's gymnastics team, has always been a guide to her younger mates, especially Jordan Chiles. From calming the nerves with motivational words to explaining the schedule before the events, Biles provides every form of support to the team.

Chiles extended heartfelt gratitude to her teammate for her unending support on all stages.

"I understand the process a little more. Whether it’s my first Olympics, whether it's my first international assignment, whether it's my second Olympic trials, she's been there for me in a million different ways and I can't say thank you enough," she said. (via People)

Jordan Chiles was also part of the silver-winning team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, narrowly missing out on the gold in the wake of Biles' 'twisties'.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Neelabhra Roy