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Aformer US Olympian gymnast caused a stir with some harsh words about the team chosen to represent USA Gymnastics alongside Simone Biles, and the record-breaking American star was not about to let it slide.
MyKayla Skinner, a silver medalist on the vault at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, gave her unfiltered thoughts on the talent level of the team, and Biles made her pay for her attempt to hate from outside the club with a savage response on social media.
Simone Biles defends her teammates
Here's what Skinner said on a YouTube live stream when the full Olympic gymnastics team was announced for Paris 2024: "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."
The silver medalist also insinuated that in hindsight, she thinks she could have made the Olympic team after seeing three girls suffer devastating injuries during the trials: Skye Blakely, Shilese Jones, and Kayla DiCello. Instead, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, and 16-year-old Hezly Rivera joined Biles on the final roster.
Offended by the lack of respect for her teammates, Biles launched a counterstrike. She did not explicitly name Skinner in this viral post on Threads, but everyone knew who she was talking about, because Biles' message hinted at Skinner's problematic past.
"Not everyone needs a mic and a platform," Biles wrote in the post.
MyKayla Skinner's controversial live stream
In the same livestream as her "work ethics" comments, Skinner criticized SafeSport for limiting how tough coaches can be, referencing former USA Gymnastics coach Marta Karolyi.
She and her husband Bela ran the infamous Karolyi Ranch, which played a key role the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal. Biles and others like Olivia Dunne, and ironically Skinner herself, have spoken out against the the "Marta Era" in the past.
Skinner felt the heat, not just from Biles, and rushed to her Instagram story to apologize.
She stated: "A lot of the stuff that 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."
"I'm not sticking up for M�rta or saying what she did was good," Skinner continued. "I'm just saying it was different. So anyway, sorry for anything that got out of context or seemed hurtful."