Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Emma Chance | Celebrity | July 31, 2024
If you have been watching the Olympics while working (on mute in the back room in my case, because I work retail during the day), then I'm sure you too were delighted to witness the USA women's gymnastics team win gold yesterday. 27-year-old Simone Biles -- the most decorated gymnast in US history and one of the best athletes to ever walk this earth -- took to Instagram following the win to post a collection of photos of her and her teammates celebrating. But the caption was ... confusing?
"lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions," Biles wrote.
Now, forgive me for not being off-book on the drama that has apparently been festering in the gymnastics corner of the Internet. I had to turn to Google to figure out what this was about. Turns out that Biles's former teammate MyKayla Skinner, who retired after winning the silver medal for the vault at the Tokyo Olympics, posted a YouTube video earlier this month in which she criticized the current team.
Part 1: The gymnastics community cannot let these comments to be swept under the rug. I will be as respectful as possible to @mykaylaskinner but instead of engaging in meaningful conversation she blocks anyone who holds her accountable for her words. pic.twitter.com/Y69pwCxnUG
— Riley (@gymguyri) July 3, 2024
"Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be. Just notice like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don't work as hard. The girls just don't have the work ethic," Skinner said in the since-deleted video.
She blamed SafeSport, the "independent and exclusive authority directed by Congress to prevent and respond to all forms of abuse and misconduct within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement," for this change in work ethic. So, she's effectively saying, we got rid of abusers like Larry Nassar and now the gymnasts don't have to work as hard. Now coaches can't be "aggressive" or "intense," and since Russia isn't at these Olympics, they don't have to face that "pressure," so it's easier to win.
Says the silver medalist.
She has since apologized, posting a lengthy statement on Instagram in which she writes, "Upon reflection, I was comparing the 'Marta Era' to the current era," Marta being former US coach Márta Károlyi. Skinner continues, "I am coming to terms that I have not fully dealt with the emotional and verbal abuse I endured under Marta that perhaps led to my hurtful comments."
How tragic is that? She said the new gymnasts are lazy because they aren't being abused, and then said it was the abuse she endured as a gymnast that made her say such a thing. I don't need to add to the dragging of this woman's name, it will be forgotten. Simone Biles, however, never will.
