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Simone Biles explained why she has been defending her teammates during the Paris Olympics.
The Olympian recently competed in her final event at the Games where she took home the silver medal, but when the team itself won a gold medal, Biles posted a photo of them on Instagram, referencing a since-deleted YouTube video by former Olympian MyKayla Skinner.
Skinner spoke about the recent Olympic gymnastics team and their lack of “work ethic.”
“Other than Simone, I feel like the talent and depth isn’t what it used to be,” she said at the time. “Obviously, I realized a lot of girls don’t work as hard. Girls don’t have the work ethic.”
However, Skinner had already shown her support for the American gymnasts after their gold medal win, posting a photo of the winning U.S. team on July 30 on her Instagram Story, along with three heart emojis.
Biles then captioned the photo of the team's gold medal: “Lack of talent, lazy Olympic champions.”
In a recent interview with PeopleBiles mentioned why she has been so vocal about her teammates. “It’s important because you have to teach them how to use their voice,” she told the outlet. “And if they don’t, you’re the voice for those who don’t have one, which is fine.”
She also added that she feels proud of her role as a “team leader.”
“I felt it was the right time to defend them, because they are very young and have not yet fully demonstrated their power,” he said.
Following Biles' original Instagram post, she revealed on Instagram that she had been blocked, but did not specify who had blocked her. Her Team USA gymnastics teammate Jordan Chiles later clarified on her Instagram Story that it was Skinner who had blocked Biles. Chiles posted a photo on her Instagram Story that she had taken from Biles' phone, on which she could not see any of Skinner's posts. She captioned it, “When she blocks Simone.”
The latest development between Skinner and Biles came when the former took to Instagram on Tuesday, August 6, to ask Biles to “put an end” to the situation, as she had received “disgusting” threats of “physical harm” toward her husband, Jonas Harmer, and daughter, Charlotte.
“I made a comment about work ethic and what seems to be gaining momentum with the new generation. To be perfectly clear, I take full responsibility for not expressing the point I was trying to make well and the last thing I wanted to do was cause harm or offend our U.S. Olympic team,” she said. “I know these women are amazing, the best of the best, and almost all of them are my former teammates who I have thoroughly enjoyed cheering on over the years.”
Skinner mentioned that she apologized both publicly and privately after removing her original video from YouTube, and Biles was the only member of the team who responded saying she was “proud” of her.
“You can imagine my shock last week when I was celebrating our team winning gold and saw this pop up again in a caption on an Instagram post,” she added. “If Simone really believes I called our team lazy and untalented and if that’s really how she feels, it breaks my heart. But not just because it’s not how I feel or even what I said before, but because Simone’s latest post and others that followed fueled another wave of hateful comments, direct messages, articles and emails.”
She concluded with a personal message to Biles herself: “To Simone, I ask you directly and publicly to please put an end to this. Please ask your fans to stop.”
“You have been an incredible advocate for mental health awareness and so many people need your help right now. We have been targeted in ways I am sure you never intended. Your performance, the team’s performance and the Olympics in general should be a time where we support each other.”
