Olympic gymnastics qualifying, explained: Why Jordan Chiles won’t compete in all-around final despite fourth-place score

Jordan Chiles failed to qualify for the all-around final at the 2021 Olympics. She was hoping to achieve that goal in 2024.

She came up just fractions of a point short of earning that honor.Chiles and her teammate, Suni Lee, were locked in a tightly contested battle to represent the USA in the all-around final.

Lee edged Chiles by 0.067 points to relegate Chiles to top-alternate territory.

Of course, it’s worth noting that Chiles posted one of the best all-around scores in Paris. That will lead some to wonder why she isn’t going to the finals along with Biles and Lee.

Chiles isn’t in the all-around final at the 2024 Olympics because of the two-per-country rule.

The rule is fairly simple: no country can send more than two gymnasts to each of the five event finals — the all-around and the four apparatuses (the vault, floor, bars and beam).

As such, any gymnast who finishes with two of her countrymates ahead of her in the standings will not advance to the event finals regardless of how highly they rank within the field.