Simone Biles, after Olympic team gold, takes criticism from ex-teammate seriously
PARIS — She and Suni Lee dance with the American flag. Hezly Rivera and Jade Carey flank them on either side, grinning broadly, and Jordan Chiles raises her fist in the air. At first glance, it’s just another celebratory post on Simone Biles’ Instagram, part of a post-Olympic gold-medal-winning reel that shows her with her teammates and her husband.
In addition to the photo, Biles added a caption: “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.”
Somewhere in Paris, Biles dropped the microphone directly on MyKayla Skinner’s head.
While Biles didn’t reference Skinner, it appears the most decorated American gymnast of all time had her former teammate in mind. After the Olympic Trials, Skinner posted a now-deleted YouTube video in which she said, in part, that “other than Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth isn’t what it used to be,” adding that “a lot of girls don’t work as hard and don’t have the work ethic.” Skinner, who won silver with Biles in 2020, went on to say that she felt SafeSport, designed to identify abusive coaches, discouraged coaches from pushing gymnasts as hard as they needed to, and she questioned the strength of the competition at the trials, questioning how someone who “fell twice” could finish second.
Unlike many athletes who like to pretend they don’t read what’s written about them, Biles knows what’s said about her. She keeps the receipts.
Since her post-Tokyo comeback, Biles has spoken out against the trolls who labeled her a quitter. She responded directly to Skinner’s comments, posting on social media that “not everyone needs a microphone and a platform.” Skinner later posted the obligatory apology, saying that the abuse she says she suffered at the hands of Márta Károlyi may have led to her “hurtful comments.”
It seems fair to assume that Biles did not fully accept the apology.
Required reading
(Photo by Simone Biles: Ulrik Pedersen/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
