Simone Biles Breaks Silence About Viral Instagram Post Aimed At MyKayla Skinner

Simone Biles went viral for plenty of reasons during the 2024 Paris Olympics, but arguably no moment drew more attention than the caption she put on her Instagram post after winning gold in the team all-around final last week.

Biles posted a photo of herself, Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee Jade Carey and Hazyl Rivera celebrating their gold-medal victory with a caption that read “lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions.”

Everyone knew it was Biles’ way of clapping back at former Olympic teammate MyKayla Skinner for criticizing her current teammates and questioning their talent and work ethic, but the 27-year-old 11-time Olympic medalist recently admitted her reasoning went much deeper than having a payback moment.

“I just felt like it was right in that moment to stand up for them, because they're so young and they haven't fully stood in their power yet,” Biles told People.com . “For somebody to stand up, I know it meant a lot for [my teammates].

“It's important because you have to teach them to use their voices, and if not, you're a voice for the voiceless, which is OK.”

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Biles’ post got her and Chiles both blocked by Skinner on social media.

But the damage had been done. Skinner was facing backlash seemingly on a daily basis through social media and in the real world, and she walked back her criticism of the other four Olympians.

Skinner posted a video to Instagram on Tuesday pleading with Biles to have her fans stop the “cyber bullying,” stating things had gotten out of hand and claiming she and her family were on the receiving end of threats.

Related: Gymnastics Legend Nastia Liukin Makes It Crystal Clear How She Feels About Simone Biles

Related: Controversial Score Change Gives Jordan Chiles First Individual Olympic Medal