Homburger successfully represented U.S. artistic gymnast Jordan Chiles in proceedings before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court arising out of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In a decision dated January 23, 2026, the Court upheld a request for revision filed on behalf of Ms. Chiles and set aside a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) award that had deprived her of the Olympic bronze medal in the women’s gymnastics floor exercise final.

The decision constitutes a landmark ruling in several respects. It is the first successful revision request under the recently revised Swiss arbitration legislation and only the fifth time the Swiss Federal Supreme Court has ever granted the revision of an arbitral award.

Ms. Chiles was initially awarded the bronze medal after her coach challenged her original score, resulting in an increase to her final score. A CAS tribunal subsequently ruled, however, that the challenge had been submitted four seconds after the applicable one-minute time limit and was therefore invalid, leading to Ms. Chiles being stripped of her bronze medal.

In September 2024, Homburger filed both a request for revision and an appeal with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court on behalf of Ms. Chiles. In the revision proceedings, Ms. Chiles relied on newly emerged video evidence demonstrating that the challenge had in fact been submitted within the prescribed time limit.

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court granted the request for revision, set aside the CAS award and remitted the matter to the arbitral tribunal. In doing so, it gave particular weight to the extreme time pressure to which Ms. Chiles had been subjected as a result of a gross notification error by the CAS. The belated notification left her with only hours before the issuance of the award to review the case file, develop a defense strategy, draft a written submission and prepare for a hearing.

«The Swiss Federal Supreme Court’s decision underscores the importance of standing firm when fairness is at stake», the Homburger team representing Ms. Chiles said.

The Homburger team advising Ms. Chiles was led by Gabrielle Nater-Bass and included Stefanie Pfisterer, Richard G. Allemann and Frédéric Fitzi (all Arbitration, Litigation). Homburger acted as co-counsel together with international counsel Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.