Simone Biles has seemingly thrown shade at her former US teammate MyKayla Skinner.
“Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” Biles, 27, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, July 30, alongside a photo of herself holding up an American flag.
The photo captured Simone alongside teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera.
Simone Biles won her fifth Olympic gold medal after anchoring the United States to a win in the women’s gymnastics team final on Tuesday afternoon at the Bercy Arena.
Simone’s gold marked her 38th career medal between the Olympics and world championships, extending her record as the most decorated gymnast in history.
At last month’s US Olympic trials, Simone had said: “This is definitely our redemption tour. I feel like we all have more to give.”
Eagle-eyed fans quickly drew comparisons from Simone’s caption to MyKayla Skinner’s remarks earlier this month when she criticised the 2024 gymnasts for not having the same “work ethic” as those of Team USA past.
During a July YouTube video, Skinner claimed that the current group of women “don’t work as hard” or have the “talent or depth” of those who came before them.
During her initial remarks, MyKayla partially credited SafeSport, an independent organization.
The organisation was designed to prevent and respond “to sexual, physical, and emotional abuse” in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movement, which is why she believes gymnasts have changed their approach to training.
“Coaches can’t get on athletes, which in some ways is really good, but at the same time, to get to where you need to be in gymnastics, you do have to be … a little aggressive, a little intense,” she alleged in the video.
Following her claims, members of Team USA took to social media to respond.
Simone noted via Threads that “not everyone needs a mic and a platform.”
Jordan Chiles’ mother, Gina, also wrote via X, “Whoa. She really said that out loud and posted it. That’s something.”
MyKayla, meanwhile, has since apologized for her actions, claiming she was “misinterpreted” and “misunderstood.”
“A lot of the stuff I was talking about wasn’t always necessarily about the current team because I love and support all the girls that made it, and I’m so proud of them,” she explained via a July Instagram Story.
“It was more about going back into my own gym and the work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the Marta [Karolyi] era.”