Jordan Chiles’ mother, Gina, has always been her fiercest supporter. During a tough time when Jordan faced online criticism after missing out on an individual medal in the women’s floor exercise at the Paris Olympics, Gina took to X to defend her daughter. “My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched,” she wrote, standing firmly by Jordan’s side—exactly where a mother should be. The star gymnast’s father is no far behind, never missing an opportunity to showcase support for his daughter
He closely follows her gymnastics journey, and this year he went to the Pauley Pavilion to watch the UCLA Bruins take on Illinois. But he didn’t just watch—he went a step further. Timothy stood in the autograph line like any other fan, waiting for his daughter’s signature on his jacket. But this lovely parent-daughter dynamic wasn’t always like this.
But there was a time when despite their unwavering love, the proud parents of Jordan Chiles felt powerless. What happened during that difficult chapter? Let’s just say it had everything to do with her former coach—Coach X.
Jordan Chiles reveals the dark past when she had to fight alone
“My parents could see I was under a lot of pressure. But I didn’t tell them the full extent of Coach X’s extreme behavior.”, the 23-year-old wrote in her book, I’m That Girl: Loving the Power of My Dreams. A young Jordan Chiles felt trapped and disempowered. Even her parents, Gina and Timothy Chiles, who had always been by her side, found themselves powerless. They saw their daughter’s light dimming, her joy fading. And yet, they couldn’t bring themselves to say no. Why? Because they had been made to believe that they couldn’t.
“Coach X told us over and over that, having trained gold medalists and elite gymnasts in the past, she was the only person who could take me to the next level,” Jordan revealed. Without her, Coach X assured them, Jordan Chiles ‘would be nowhere.’ The ex-coach wasn’t just coaching the gymnast, she was going a step further to control her and making her believe that the pain, the humiliation, and abuse were a part of the training and would contribute to her success. After all, the pain was just one of the prices a Region 2 gymnast had to pay.
Region 2 carried a reputation that followed Jordan Chiles throughout her gymnastics journey. According to her, the area she came from, Oregon—and the gym where she trained—weren’t trained for producing elite gymnasts or top-tier coaches. This wasn’t just her perspective, it was a belief widely shared within the American gymnastics community. Even Jordan’s parents had heard the same sentiment time and time again: “Nothing good comes out of Region 2.” This background further necessitated the need to put up with the abuse of Coach X.
But eventually, the pain became too much to endure, taking an enormous toll on her mental health.
The continuous mental battle led to having suicidal thoughts
Harsh coaches are not unknown to us, Coach X? She was built different. Much unlike words of encouragement that you would expect from a coach, the 23-year-old was hit with the worst kind of abuse, such as, “Stinkerbell, you’re lazy,” as Jordan Chiles recounted in her book. With every insult, the young gymnast’s confidence crumbled, and the sport she once loved no longer felt like home. She desperately needed an outlet.
“I wanted to get it off my chest. I wanted to let people know that I had really, really down times. I’ve been in the dark, I’ve been in the deepest part of the ocean.”, she confessed in her interaction with People in February. So bad was Chiles’ experience of training under Coach X, that she was driven to the very edge, and had to struggle with suicidal thoughts. Simone Biles’ hype woman, the one who keeps the entire UCLA Bruins women’s gymnastics team motivated, was pushed down to her lowest point by her ex-coach. Eventually, things took a turn for the worse.
When the Oregon native did not make it to the Senior World Team in 2018, it seemed as if the world had crashed down on her. Doubt, disappointment, and years of silent suffering under Coach X threatened to break her completely. But just when she needed it most, Simone Biles reached out her hand.
Simone didn’t just offer advice—she offered an escape, a fresh start, a lifeline. She brought her best friend to the World Champions Centre, a place where she could finally train without fear and cruelty. For the first time in a long time, Chiles felt hope. The gymnastics GOAT had proved to Jordan Chiles that she was not just a teammate, or a mentor. She was her best friend, in the truest sense of the term.
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