Simone Biles (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
On Wednesday, former Olympian MyKayla Skinner went insanely viral, speaking on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, and she was called out by Simone Biles as a result.
The silver medalist criticized several of the athletes and didn’t shy away from laying into the current state of U.S. gymnastics when she stated, “Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be. I mean, obviously, a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” Skinner said.
She went on to say: “A lot of girls don’t work as hard. It’s hard too because of SafeSport. Coaches can’t get on athletes which in some ways is really good but at the same time, to get to where you need to be in gymnastics you do have to be…a little aggressive, a little intense.”
Skinner mentioning SafeSport refers to the authority run by Congress, which was created in 2017 “to prevent and respond to all forms of abuse and misconduct within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement.”
While Simone Biles did not mention her by name, she wrote on social media, “Not everyone needs a mic and a platform.”
It was not hard to see that she was speaking on Skinner after she posted her since-deleted YouTube video.
Biles and Skinner were teammates on the 2021 Tokyo Olympic team.
Skinner’s words were so crazy that Jordan Chiles’ mother also chimed in on X, saying: “Whoa. She really said that out loud and posted it. That’s something….”
Chiles was on the 2021 Olympic team with her, as well as Jade Carey and Suni Lee.
Following the major backlash she was receiving online from fans and Simone Biles, Skinner took to her Instagram story and said, “I know we did the re-cap on YouTube, and I feel like a lot of you guys had misinterpreted or misunderstood exactly what I was meaning or had said.
“A lot of the stuff I was talking about wasn’t always necessarily about the current team because I love and support all the girls that made it, and I’m so proud of them. It was more about going back into my own gym and the work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the Marta [Karolyi] era.
“I’m not sticking up for Marta or saying what she did was good,” Skinner continued. “I’m just saying it was different. So sorry for anything that got out of context or seemed hurtful; I love those girls and I’m seriously so happy for them so I would never do anything to make them feel otherwise.”
Simone Biles is The Oldest Female Gymnast to Compete On the U.S Olympic Team
Joscelyn Roberson, Tiana Sumanasekera, Dulcy Caylor and Simone Biles (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Simone Biles officially punched her ticket to a third Olympic Games earlier this month. She will be joined in Paris this summer by Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera.
The team was selected at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials in Minneapolis on Sunday.
With her selection, the 27-year-old will be the oldest female American gymnast to compete at the Olympics in 72 years.
