Simone Biles and MyKayla Skinner Drama, Explained
By Tariro Mzezewa, the Cut's morning blogger. Her coverage areas include culture, politics and art. She also contributes to Vulture, The New York Times and Conde Nast Traveler. She previously worked as a national correspondent at The New York Times.
Earlier this month, former Team USA gymnast MyKayla Skinner questioned the work ethic of gymnasts today, saying their “talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be.” She said that apart from Simone Biles, “a lot of girls don’t work as hard” and “just don’t have the work ethic.” On Tuesday, after Team USA brought home gold at the Paris Olympics, Biles appeared to respond with a cheeky Instagram caption.
“Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions,” Biles captioned a photo of herself with teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera. Fans couldn’t help but feel like the caption was aimed at Skinner, who won a silver medal for her vault performance at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when filling in for Biles after she withdrew from the finals.
The drama began when Skinner posted a since-deleted YouTube video earlier this month, claiming that the creation of SafeSport — an organization that monitors and works to prevent sexual, physical, and emotional abuse in the sport — was part of why, in her opinion, gymnasts weren’t working hard. She said that coaches “have to be really careful about what they say, which in some ways is really good, but at the same time, to get where you need to be in gymnastics, you have to be … a little aggressive and a little intense.”
The comments didn’t go over well. People criticized Skinner for undercutting her former teammates and glorifying a style of coaching that led to many traumatized athletes. On the same day, Biles wrote on Threads that “not everyone needs a mic and a platform.” Meanwhile, Chiles’s mother, Gina, wrote on X: “Whoa. She really said that out loud and posted it. That’s something.” After the backlash, Skinner apologized and said her words had been “misunderstood.” She added: “I am coming to terms that I have not fully dealt with the emotional and verbal abuse I endured.”
On Tuesday, Biles revealed that this year’s nickname for the team was “F Around and Find Out.” (She subsequently clarified that the official team name is “Golden Girls,” because the 2024 team was oldest the U.S. has sent to the Olympics.) Former Team USA gymnast McKayla Maroney — who took home a gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012 — commented on Biles’s victory post: “It doesn’t get more iconic than this. She f’d around n found out fr.”
