Topline
Simone Biles used a photo of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team proudly hoisting the American flag after winning Olympic gold Tuesday to push back against a former teammate, MyKayla Skinner, who drew controversy several weeks ago for questioning the “talent and the depth” and work ethic of this year’s team.
Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Simone Biles, Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee of USA celebrate a gold-medal … [+]
Key Facts
Hours after Team USA won the gold medal in women’s gymnastics, stand-out star Biles posted several group photos to Instagram with the caption “Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions ❤️🥇🇺🇸.”
The caption seemed to be a direct clapback to Skinner, 27, who said in a now-deleted YouTube video weeks ago she didn’t feel this year’s team was up to snuff, adding, other than Biles, “obviously a lot of girls don’t work as hard, the girls just don’t have the work ethic.”
At the time, Biles posted to Threads that “Not everyone needs a mic and a platform.”
Ahead of the games, Skinner posted a new video and said her comments weren’t “necessarily about the current team” and said she “loves and supports all of the girls who made it.”
Skinner also posted a photo to her Instagram story Tuesday of the U.S. women’s gymnastic team during the gold medal ceremony with three heart emojis above it.
Another former Olympic gymnast, 2012 Team USA member McKayla Maroney, also weighed in on the drama, commenting on Biles post with congratulations and saying she felt like she needed to apologize “just to redeem my first name.”
Suni Lee, a member of the U.S. team, commented “Put a finger down if Simone Biles just ended you.”
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Crucial Quote
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be,” Skinner said in her original video.
Key Background
Skinner was an alternate for the 2016 Olympic team in Brazil and was chosen as a for a non-nominative spot at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, meaning she could compete in individual competition but would not be part of the four-member U.S. team. She did not initially qualify for the finals in the individual all-around competition or on vault, but was moved up after Biles dropped out in the middle of the games for mental health reasons. Skinner ultimately won the silver medal in vault and retired from the sport later that year. Team USA won the silver medal without Biles, falling to Russia (which competed under the moniker ROC), for gold. The team lineup for the 2024 U.S. gymnastics was almost exactly the same as the team for the 2020 games with one exception—Jade Carey competed for the team this year in place of Grace McCallum (in Tokyo, Carey competed as an individual).
Further Reading
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Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes reporter who covers breaking news with a frequent focus on the entertainment industry, streaming, sports news, publishing, pop culture and climate change. She joined Forbes in 2023 and lives in Dallas. She’s covered Netflix’s hottest documentaries, a surge of assaults reported on social media, the most popular books of the year and how climate change stands to impact the way we eat. Roeloffs was included on Editor & Publisher Magazine’s “ 25 Under 30” list in 2023 and worked covering local news in the greater Boston area from 2017 to 2023. She graduated with a double major in political science and journalism from Northeastern University. Follow Roeloffs for continued coverage of streaming wars, pop culture news and trending topics.
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