Simone Biles appeared to clap back at critics – including a former teammate of hers – after winning the team gold medal for women’s gymnastics at the Paris Olympics.
Biles, along with Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Jade Carey, dominated the field – winning by nearly five-and-a-half points over Italy.
THE DIG
On her Instagram after the accomplishment, Biles posted a picture of the team with a brutal caption. ‘lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions,’ the post read.
That appears to be a specific dig at a former Team USA gymnast, MyKayla Skinner, who criticized the team’s makeup in the run-up to the games.
In a now-deleted YouTube video, Skinner blasted the team of Biles, Chiles, Lee, Carey, and Hezly Rivera for not having the right ‘work ethic’.
‘Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be,’ the 27-year-old said.
‘The girls just don’t have the work ethic,’ Skinner continued before referencing the US Center for SafeSport – a non-profit organization set up to reduce sexual abuse of minors and athletes in US Olympic sports.
‘And it’s hard too because of SafeSport. Like, coaches can’t get on athletes and they have to be really careful what they say.
‘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, I feel like, a little aggressive and a little intense.’
In the immediate aftermath of that, Biles clapped back at Skinner, writing on Threads, ‘not everyone needs a mic and a platform’.
