The United States women’s gymnastics team may have knocked it out of the park with their Olympic performance this year, but the girls were not without their share of drama.
While 11-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles was aweing fans yet again by leading her team to victory in Paris, one of her former teammates was stirring up some controversy on social media.
Mykayla Skinner—who won silver in the 2020 individual vault competition and was an alternate for America’s 2016 Olympic team—took to Instagram in June to broadly criticize the latest women’s gymnastics team. In a video she shared to that platform, the 28-year-old said that the “talent” and “depth” of the team is not “what it used to be,” with the exception of Biles.
Skinner went on to say that “a lot of the girls” are “obviously” not putting in as much effort, adding that they simply do not “have the work ethic.” She later apologized for offending people, claiming those who were criticizing her comments had “misunderstood” what she meant—suggesting that “a lot” of her remarks were not “necessarily” directed at the 2024 Olympic team.
Following a gold medal win for the team at the end of July, Biles responded on Instagram, sarcastically describing the current team as “lazy” Olympic champions with a “lack of talent.” But the drama hasn’t stopped there.
Skinner’s words have already left their mark, leading to a barrage of criticism from fans of Biles and the rest of the current United States team. In yet another Instagram post dated August 6, the retired gymnast said that rhetoric around the incident has “gotten out of hand” despite her having “sincerely hoped” it would dissipate following her apology.
She criticized those who had gone much further than a disagreement with her words and actions, calling out those who had turned to “cyberbullying.” Skinner said that such attacks have resulted in physical threats directed at herself, her baby, and her husband, which she described as “disgusting” and asked for it to “just stop.”
Skinner once again claimed responsibility for “poorly articulating” her point and emphasized her lack of intention in “caus[ing] harm or offend[ing]” the current team, adding her compliments to the “incredible” women representing America.
She also said that she had sent individual apologies to each team member after her broad apology shared publicly, to which “only Simone” replied with the sentiments that she was “proud of me.” Skinner expressed dismay that the incident was reintroduced with the comment from Biles weeks later, after the gold medal win.
The former Olympian said she was “heartbroken” if Biles “truly believes” she called the team “lazy” and without talent, adding that the worst part of the dramatic controversy is that the comment from Biles led to her followers spearheading an additional “wave of hateful” rhetoric. Such hate allegedly “includes death threats” to Skinner, her family, and her agent.
Then the gymnast appealed to her former teammate directly, pleading that she “put a stop” to the comments, requesting her followers to cease their backlash. She also referred to Biles’ history of being a “champion for mental health” and said that many involved in the situation could use her advocacy for that now.
