Suni Lee has become the latest American gymnast to criticize MyKayla Skinner amid Simone Biles’ bitter feud with her former Olympic teammate.
Biles and Lee led the United States to victory in the team all-around final at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, capturing their first gold medals of the Games with an impressive score of 171.296.
Following the win, Biles couldn’t resist jumping to her teammate’s defense while taking aim at an old acquaintance in Skinner, who recently sparked controversy by questioning the current U.S. team’s “work ethic” and dedication to their craft.
The eight-time Olympic medalist shared a photo of herself, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Jade Carey and Lee holding aloft a U.S. flag with the caption: “lack of talent, laziness, Olympic champions.”
And to show her support for Biles, Lee joined her fellow USA star in mocking Skinner by writing in the comments section: “put a finger down if Simone Biles just killed you” along with a hand emoji.
Suni Lee (left) has become the latest American gymnast to criticize MyKayla Skinner amid Simone Biles’ bitter feud with her former Olympic teammate.
Biles lashed out at Skinner (pictured) after the former gymnast recently questioned the US’s “work ethic”.
The 21-year-old appeared to be referencing a TikTok trend in which users give a thumbs down when a speaker says something that applies to them.
Jordan Chiles, a teammate of Biles and Lee on the U.S. team, also wrote: ‘And that’s my fault!’
Skinner made his controversial comments earlier this month in a now-deleted YouTube video.
“Other than Simone, I feel like the talent and depth isn’t what it used to be,” MyKayla, who won an Olympic silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games, said in the video.
“Girls just don’t have the work ethic.”
Despite Skinner excluding her from that brutal evaluation, Biles sparked a feud with her former gymnastics teammate by appearing to strike back on social media at the time.
The American Olympic legend took a thinly veiled dig at her, writing on Threads: “Not everyone needs a microphone and a platform.”
Biles addressed Skinner’s controversial stance after her Olympic teams’ win on Tuesday
Lee backed her teammate in the comments section by suggesting she was “done” with Skinner.
Both Lee and Biles inspired the United States to victory in the team final at the Paris Games this week.
And following her Instagram comment this week, Chiles revealed that Skinner has now blocked Biles on the social media platform.
After sharing a photo online showing Skinner’s blank Instagram page on a mobile phone, Chiles added the caption: “When he blocks Simone.”
Biles had also hinted on X that she no longer has access to Skinner’s social media posts after writing, “Oops I’ve been blocked.”
She’s not the only current and former Team USA member to mock Skinner after Tuesday’s gold medal-winning performance. U.S. gymnastics royalty McKayla Maroney has also been caught up in the bitter feud.
“It doesn’t get more iconic than this,” Maroney wrote on Instagram in response to Biles’ post. “(Skinner) fucked up and found out.”
Maroney then joked about sharing a nickname with Skinner.
Biles and Skinner have known each other for quite some time and previously got along well.
But the American legend suggested on Wednesday that her former teammate has blocked her.
Biles’ current teammate, Jordan Chiles, shared a photo online showing Skinner’s blank Instagram page.
“I feel like I need to apologize just to get my first name back,” she wrote.
While they may not have been the best of friends, Biles and Skinner have known each other for quite some time and got along well after both represented the United States at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning.
Both also collected Olympic medals in Tokyo seven years later despite Biles withdrawing from several events with a case of “twisties,” a mental block that causes a gymnast to lose control of her body during a spinning skill in the air.
Skinner picked up her silver in the vault event after Biles had taken a backseat, marking one of her biggest achievements as a gymnast after also winning four golds at the World Championships.