Jordan Chiles Announces Bid for Third Olympics, With Michael Jordan Narrating the Reveal

Gymnast Jordan Chiles is aiming for a home-country encore. On Wednesday, the two-time Olympic medalist confirmed she intends to compete at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, ending months of speculation about her competitive future.

Chiles had kept her plans quiet since helping the United States capture team gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024. She has not competed internationally since, and when pressed about 2028 in an August interview with NBC Sports, she offered only that “the wait is still on.”

The reveal itself carried star power befitting the Los Angeles stage. Rather than a conventional press release, Chiles shared the news through an Instagram video narrated by basketball icon Michael Jordan — a nod to the first name they share — captioned “LA 2028… WHY NOT?”

The announcement came one day after UCLA revealed that Chiles, a Los Angeles resident who graduated from the school in June, will return to its gymnastics program as a student coach for the 2027 season. During her Bruins career, she won four NCAA titles: two on bars and two on floor exercise.

For NBC, the news adds a recognizable American name to a home Olympics it will broadcast. Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), NBC’s parent company, closed at $26.38 on Wednesday and traded up 1.94% to $26.89 in Thursday’s session, giving the media and telecommunications company a market capitalization of roughly $94.4 billion. Comcast’s Media segment, which includes NBC’s sports and Olympics coverage, stands to benefit from marquee American athletes headlining the 2028 program. The company last aired the Paris Games in 2024, and Los Angeles will mark the first U.S.-hosted Summer Olympics since Atlanta in 1996.

Chiles, if she competes in Los Angeles, would be pursuing a third Olympic appearance after Rio-era teammate cycles in Tokyo (held in 2021) and Paris. For sponsors and broadcasters alike, hometown athletes with medal credentials are among the most closely watched storylines heading into a domestic Games.

What to watch

• Chiles’ competition schedule ahead of 2028, including whether she returns to international events before the Los Angeles Games.
• Her student-coaching role with UCLA gymnastics during the 2027 season.
• NBC/Comcast coverage plans and advertising momentum as the first U.S. Summer Olympics in three decades approaches.

Source: original release