An online spat has emerged between former US Olympic medalist MyKayla Skinner and her erstwhile teammate Simone Biles . The tension mounted when Jordan Chiles, a current member of the team, shared an Instagram post that made it apparent Skinner had blocked Biles on the platform.
In an Instagram story reshared by user X, Chiles posted a snapshot with the caption "When she blocks Simone," which displayed Skinner's account, now mysteriously empty of posts and lacking follower details, despite boasting a considerable 418k followers.
Gymnastics enthusiasts immediately leapt to Biles' defence , implying that athletes no longer in active competition should not trouble the current Olympic team. Biles has also been recently urged to divorce her husband after he made a brutal joke about their relationship .
Fresh from creating history at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Biles scooped an unprecedented eighth Olympic medal for a US gymnast with her showstopping floor performance on Tuesday. Sporting a $3,000 leotard encrusted with over 3,400 genuine Swarovski crystals, Biles affirmed her position as a gymnastics legend.
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Skinner, who was part of the gold-winning 2014 World Championships team and claimed silver in vault at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, previously voiced some disparaging opinions about Biles' current teammates - including Chiles, Jade Carey, Suni Lee, and Hezly Rivera. In a tweet she later removed, Skinner suggested that apart from Biles, the team's talent and depth were lacking compared to the past.
She commented, "Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be . The girls just don't have the work ethic."
Biles clapped back on social media, remarking, "Not everyone needs a mic and a platform."
Meanwhile, Skinner offered an apology via her YouTube channel, which intriguingly includes Biles in a candid look at the Tokyo Olympics. Skinner admitted in her mea culpa, "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. It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work.
"Reflecting on it, I realize I was comparing the Marta [Karolyi] era to now. I'm beginning to understand that I haven't completely processed the emotional and verbal abuse I went through with Marta, which probably influenced my insensitive words. I fully own up to what I said and am truly sorry."
Subsequently, after clinching gold, Biles slyly referenced the remarks without mentioning them explicitly, underscoring her Instagram victory post with, "Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions," featuring her crew exultant beneath the Stars and Stripes, bathed in acclaim from the Paris public. Supporters backed Biles yet again, with Chiles' comment on the post garnering upwards of 42k likes.
The post garnered backing from a slew of stars, with Biles' NFL beau Jonathan Owens, RandB singer SZA, and ex-U. S. gymnast Laurie Hernandez all showing love. U.S. sporting legends Dominique Moceanu and Michelle Kwan joined the chorus, with Kwan commenting, "Four-letter word for all the haters-G.O.A.T. Bravo."
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