Simone Biles seemingly threw some subtle shade at MyKayla Skinner after winning gold alongside the U.S. women’s gymnastics team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions,” Biles, 27, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, July 30, alongside a photo of herself holding up an American flag alongside teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera.
Eagle-eyed fans quickly drew comparisons from Biles’ caption to Skinner’s remarks earlier this month when she criticized the 2024 gymnasts for not having the same “work ethic” as those of Team USA past. Skinner claimed during a July YouTube video that the current group of women “don’t work as hard” or have the “talent or depth” of those who came before them.
“The shade of it all 🤣🤣🤣🤣 you better GOAT! 🐐,” one person wrote in the comments section of Biles’ Tuesday post, while another replied, “F AROUND AND FIND OUT.” A third person added, “THIS CAPTION WINS A GOLD MEDAL.”
Related: Every Medal Team USA Won at the 2024 Paris Olympics
At the time of her initial remarks, Skinner partially credited SafeSport, an independent organization designed to prevent and respond “to sexual, physical, and emotional abuse” in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movement, for why she believes gymnasts have changed their approach to training.
“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,” she alleged in the video.
Following her claims, members of Team USA took to social media to respond. Biles noted via Threads that “not everyone needs a mic and a platform,” while Chiles’ mother, Gina, wrote via X, “Whoa. She really said that out loud and posted it. That’s something.”
Skinner, meanwhile, has since apologized for her actions, claiming she was “misinterpreted” and “misunderstood.”
“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,” Skinner explained via a July Instagram Story. “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.”
Biles and Skinner have a long history together, as they were both members of Team USA for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. In 2016, Skinner traveled to Rio as an alternate while Biles won her first Olympic gold medals. Four years later, Skinner took Biles’ place in the vault final when Biles dropped out due to the “twisties,” a term used to describe a gymnast’s loss of control during competition.
While Skinner, who said the Tokyo Olympics would be her last before retirement, took home the silver medal that year, she failed to move beyond the qualifying round for the all-around gymnastics final.
Despite Skinner’s initial doubts about the 2024 team, Biles and her teammates remained determined at this year’s games, taking home the gold on Tuesday. With their win, Biles officially became the most decorated American Olympic gymnast of all time, surpassing Shannon Miller.
Throughout Tuesday’s competition, Team USA remained at the top of the leaderboard as Biles, Lee, 21, Chiles, 23, and Carey, 24, showed off their skills on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and during the floor exercise. The women will follow up their victory at the women’s all-around competition on Thursday, August 1, followed by the individual event finals from Saturday, August 3, through Monday, August 5.
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Related: Simone Biles and MyKayla Skinner's History Explained
Despite suffering a calf injury during the all-around qualifiers on Sunday, July 28, Biles pushed through the pain and taped up her leg after her balance beam routine and continued to compete in her subsequent events.
During an interview with Hoda Kotb earlier this month, Biles described this year’s games as a “redemption tour” for herself and her teammates after walking away with the silver medal four years prior.
“In Tokyo, we all didn’t have our best performances,” she said, “so we’re excited to go out there and kill it.”
