Simone seemingly clapped back at comments MyKayla had made about work ethic after Team USA’s historic win at the Paris Olympics.
The 2024 Paris Olympics are in full swing, and Team USA is already making history and breaking a ton of records. Case in point: The women’s rugby team captured their first-ever Olympic medal in rugby sevens during a match against Australia on July 30, and Simone Biles became the most decorated U.S. gymnast of all time after she and her teammates took home the gold at the women’s gymnastics team final.
Simone celebrated the historic moment on Instagram by posting a pic with Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera, writing, “Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions”
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Fans immediately took notice of Simone’s caption, tying it back to comments her former teammate, MyKayla Skinner, made about the lack of work ethic in gymnastics.
Since Simone’s post, Suni Lee and 2012 Fierce Five gymnast McKayla Maroney have entered the chat, too.
So, what did MyKayla Skinner say about the U.S. gymnastics team?
How did this all happen to begin with? In a since-deleted YouTube video, MyKayla shared her reaction to the gymnastics trials for Team USA, saying, “Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be.”
“A lot of girls don’t work as hard….The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” she continued in the video, per “E! News.”
MyKayla also claimed that the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a nonprofit that helps end abuse in athletics, played a part in the “lack of effort” from the athletes.
“Like, coaches can’t get on athletes and they have to be really careful what they say,” she said. “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, I feel, like, a little aggressive and a little intense.”