Simone Biles is always going to speak her mind.
Source: Laurence Griffiths / Getty
MyKayla Skinner, a former olympic gymnast and 2020 Olympic vault silver medalist, is not impressed with the talent pool in gymnastics these days. In a now-deleted YouTube video, Skinner seemingly called out Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Hezly Rivera, who are all set to represent Team USA along with Simone Biles in Paris.
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be,” MyKayla said.
“The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” she continued, going on to reference the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a nonprofit organization, helping to end abuse in athletics. “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,” Skinner said.
MyKayla has since deleted the video and apologized, taking to her Instagram Story on July 3, saying she’s “sorry for anything that got out of context or seemed hurtful.”
“I feel like a lot of you guys had misinterpreted or misunderstood exactly what I was meaning or had said,” she continued.
Still, her comments reached Team USA, which, of course, includes her former teammate, Biles. And even though Simone was the only one saved from Skinner’s critiques, she still doesn’t seem happy about how MyKayla spoke about her current teammates.
On July 3, Biles posted a cryptic post on Threads, writing, “Not everyone needs a mic and a platform.”
While she didn’t mention her former teammate by name, it definitely seems like her post was in response to Skinner’s controversial comments.