Amidst drama with MyKayla Skinner, gymnast Simone Biles stands by speaking up for her teammates.
In a post-Olympics interview with People magazine on Tuesday, Biles explained why it was important to speak up. “It’s important because you have to teach them to use their voices…And if not, you’re a voice for the voiceless, which is okay.”
Biles is seemingly referring to the jab she threw at retired gymnast and former Olympic teammate MyKayla Skinner on Instagram last week.
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Back in July, Skinner was critical of Team USA’s current roster in a since-deleted YouTube video. In the video, Skinner called into question the “talent” and “depth” of the team’s gymnasts. Skinner has since apologized for any offense her comments caused.
In response, Biles posted an Instagram photo after the team won gold with the caption, “Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions.” Following her post, Skinner blocked Biles.
“I just felt like it was right in that moment to stand up for them, because they’re so young and they haven’t fully stood in their power yet,” Biles told the magazine of her teammates Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, and Hezley Rivera.
Since Biles’s comments to People Tuesday, Skinner has readdressed the controversy. In an Instagram video, she calls for an end to “cyberbullying” after revealing she had received “death threats” after Biles’s pointed post. She appeals to Biles’s advocacy for mental health directly and says, “I am asking you directly and publicly to please put a stop to this. Please ask your followers to stop.”
Biles has yet to respond to Skinner’s video.
