Simone Biles is protecting her team at all costs — even if the negative comments come from a former teammate.
Biles went viral for her clap back at former Olympian silver medalist MyKayla Skinner she took some jabs at the current U.S. Gymnast Olympic team.
“Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions [red heart emoji] [gold medal emoji] [American flag empoji],” Biles captioned the Instagram post of a group shot of herself and her teammates Sunni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera after they secured their gold finish.
The caption referenced the comments Skinner made in a now-deleted YouTube video that criticized the work ethic of Lee, Chiles, Carey, and Rivera.
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be,” Skinner said in the video clip shared on X.
She continued, “Just notice like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don't work as hard. The girls just don't have the work ethic.”
Skinner recieved a lot of backlash from her commments for criticizing her former team.
“Why just WHY would you feel compelled to do this?!? How would she have felt if a predecessor did this to her?!! Undermining your former teammates & your country’s current team is just NOT okay….,” an X user commented under the video clip.
Others pointed out her other alleged controversial comments she made over the years which included racist remarks aimed at former U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas.
“Isn’t she the racist who put her face over Gabby Douglas’s face when Gabby won a gold medal in a Tweet then deleted it& uses the n-word,” another fan asked. “Let’s not listen to her. There’s a bunch of posts on gymnastics Reddit about what a terrible gymnast & person she is.”
MyKayla Skinner Apologizes For Her Comments About Simone Biles' Team
After the backlash, Skinner has since apologized and said that her comments were misconstrued.
“It was more about going back into my own gym, just the work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the [former team coordinator] Márta [Károlyi] era,” she said via her Instagram Story. “And I'm not sticking up for Márta or saying what she did was good, I'm just saying it was different.”
“So anyway, sorry for anything that got out of context or seemed hurtful,” she added. “That is never my intention. And seriously, throughout the video, I was so pumped for the girls, and it was so fun watching trials and doing a live with everybody.”
A statement from Skinner's team was also published on the gymnast's behalf.
“I want to formally apologize to Team USA and to our gymnastic community for my comments during my recent YouTube episodes of the gymnastics Olympic trials,” the statement began.
“It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work. Your hard work and dedication has paid off and I congratulate each and every one of you,” she continued.
“Upon reflection I was comparing the ‘Marta Era' to the current era,” the athlete added. “I am coming to terms that I have not fully dealt with the emotional and verbal abuse I endured under Marta that perhaps led to my hurtful comments. I take full responsibility for what I said and I deeply apologize.:
Skinner wrapped up her statement writing, “It is most important to me that the sport I love continue down the path of healing and ensures a positive environment for all. I wish you all the very best in Paris. I will be cheering you all on! Go Team USA!”
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