One of the biggest moments of the Paris Olympics so far saw Simone Biles become the most decorated US gymnast in Olympic history, winning her fifth gold in the team all-around gold in Paris.
It's a staggering achievement, and she couldn’t resist taking a dig at one of her team’s detractors in the process.
Biles posted a picture of herself with her gold medal alongside teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera.
In the caption, she wrote: “Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.”
The comment was a direct riposte to previous criticism from MyKayla Skinner, a former gymnast for team USA at the games who previously hit out at the work ethic of the current crop of leading US gymnasts.
Skinner was an alternative for the US at the games in Rio de Janeiro, and previously took the place of Biles in the vault after she dropped out of Tokyo 2020.
However, speaking in a YouTube video which has since been deleted, she previously criticised the US gymnastic team, saying that “besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be”.
Skinner also said that “the girls just don’t have the work ethic [that gymnasts of her time once did].”
Biles had a dig at Skinner with her Instagram caption, and now McKayla Maroney has responded to the subtle dig.
Maroney previously represented team USA, retiring in 2016 after winning gold and silver in the team and vault respectively at the 2012 Olympic games in London.
Maroney took to the comments section of Biles’s Instagram post, saying: "It doesn’t get more iconic than this. She f’d around n found out fr. Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name."
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