MyKayla Skinner Defends Riley Gaines Amid Simone Biles Trans Athlete Feud

Retired Olympic gymnast MyKayla Skinner has addressed her former teammate Simone Biles’ ongoing pressure with Riley Gaines amid their public back-and-forth over the inclusion of transgender athletes in sports activities.

“As an athlete who has devoted years to a sport, I’ve at all times believed that true competitors ought to elevate us — not diminish others,” Skinner, 28, stated in a Friday, June 13, assertion to far-right media outlet One America Information. “That’s why it’s deeply troubling to see @Simone_Biles publicly label a fellow feminine athlete a ‘sore loser’— merely for expressing legitimate considerations about equity in ladies’s sports activities.”

She added, “I commend and recognize @Riley_Gaines_ for having the braveness to talk up. Girls like her aren’t solely standing for equity, however for the way forward for feminine athletics itself. She deserves assist — not ridicule.”

Biles, 28, publicly condemned conservative political activist and OutKicker commentator Gaines, 25, earlier this month for making transphobic feedback. Gaines, a former aggressive swimmer, reposted an X submit from the Minnesota State Excessive College League about their softball event victory.

“Feedback off lol. To be anticipated when your star participant is a boy,” Gaines wrote on June 6, referencing a feminine trans athlete.

Biles fired again, calling out Gaines for allegedly deliberately misidentifying the athlete.

“@Riley_Gaines_  You’re really sick, all of this campaigning since you misplaced a race. Straight-up sore loser,” Biles wrote later that day. “You need to be uplifting the trans neighborhood and maybe discovering a solution to make sports activities inclusive OR creating a brand new avenue the place trans [people] really feel secure in sports activities. Perhaps a transgender class IN ALL sports activities!!”

She added, “However as a substitute … You bully them … One factor’s for positive is nobody in sports activities is secure with you round!!!!!”

Gaines, in response, stated that she discovered the gold medalist’s feedback to be “disappointing.”

“It’s not my job or the job of any lady to determine learn how to embrace males in our areas,” Gaines replied. “You possibly can uplift males stealing championships in ladies’s sports activities with YOUR platform. Males don’t belong in ladies’s sports activities, and I say that with my full chest.”

Biles, a longtime impassioned ally of the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood, later issued an apology to Gaines for getting “private.”

“I’ve at all times believed aggressive fairness & inclusivity are each important in sport,” Biles wrote through X on Tuesday, June 10. “The present system doesn’t adequately stability these necessary rules, which frequently results in frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t assist for me to get private with Riley, which I apologize for.”

Skinner, in the meantime, believes that Biles used her social media platform to “bully and demean” Gaines for having an alternate perspective.

“It’s one factor to disagree. It’s one other to make use of your platform to bully and demean,” Skinner added in her assertion. “Nobody ought to be punished for standing up for equity and organic actuality. We ought to be lifting one another up — not tearing each other down for talking onerous truths.”

She additionally alleged that Biles equally bullied her again once they competed side-by-side.

“All through my very own profession, I endured being belittled, dismissed and ostracized behind the scenes by Simone,” Skinner claimed. “The stress to remain silent was immense. I saved quiet out of respect — for the game, for my teammates, and for the perfect of unity amongst athletes. However witnessing this sort of public shaming, particularly from somebody able of affect, makes that silence now not acceptable.”

Biles has not publicly addressed Skinner’s accusations. Us Weekly has reached out for remark.