Simone Biles is now the most decorated American gymnast in the history of the republic.
The Paris Games have cemented the diminutive 27-year-old as an Olympic legend.
But I worry: Is America’s golden girl at risk of becoming a bad girl?
Hours after Biles’ U.S. team won the all-around final last week, she shared a photo of herself and her teammates wrapped in the flag on Instagram.
He was shining in the flashes of the cameras. They were the champions of the United States.
But, interestingly, Biles titled the post: “Lack of talent, laziness, Olympic champions.”
Simone Biles is now the most decorated American gymnast in the history of the republic.
Die-hard gymnastics fans like myself and my daughters (who spent years training and competing 20 hours a week in their childhood) immediately knew what she was referring to and who she was addressing.
In June, shortly after the Team USA roster was announced ahead of the summer games, Biles’ former teammate, silver medalist MyKayla Skinner, spoke out in a since-deleted YouTube video about the current crop of falls.
“Aside from Simone, I feel like the talent and depth isn’t what it used to be. The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” Skinner complained.
It was a clearly refutable opinion, and as our gleaming girls stood proudly atop the podium, Skinner’s envious quest for power was exposed.
She even publicly apologized for the unconvincing comments, which she claimed had been “taken out of context.” And that’s where it should have ended.
But Biles couldn’t let things lie dormant any longer.
In post-competition interviews, she doubled down on her vengeance on Instagram.
“I felt like it was the right time to stand up for[my teammates]because they’re so young and haven’t fully shown their power yet,” she told People magazine.
Then it was Skinner’s turn to take to social media, dramatically pleading with Biles in a series of posts this week to stop the attack dogs, and even claiming she and her family were receiving “death threats” from cyberbullies.
They are the champions of the United States. But Biles titled the post: “Lack of talent, laziness, Olympic champions.”
Behind the rhinestones and spandex, Skinner knows well the fierce toughness required to succeed in elite gymnastics.
But Simone Biles is also Simone Biles. The self-proclaimed “greatest of all time,” with 12 million Instagram followers to Skinner’s 400,000, her own clothing line and enough muscles to take on Donald Trump.
As the saying goes: seven pennies come with responsibility.
Now, just to be clear, my sympathies are with Simone.
She has inspired my daughters and many others to overcome overwhelming obstacles.
Her fans know all about her incredible journey through the foster care system as a child, as well as her courageous 2018 testimony against sex offender and former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who abused Biles and at least 130 other girls.
Many of Biles’ teammates, including Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman, were among the victims.
Perhaps that’s why Skinner’s comments struck such a chord, violating an unspoken pact between these women: that they will always have each other’s backs.
And then there was Biles’ own collapse.
Following Nassar’s sentencing, he was widely expected to dominate the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. When the time came, he stumbled on the world stage and withdrew midway through the competition, citing mental health issues.
But Simone Biles is also Simone Biles. The self-proclaimed “greatest of all time,” with 12 million Instagram followers to Skinner’s 400,000, her own clothing line and enough muscles to take on Donald Trump.
“Aside from Simone, I feel like the talent and depth isn’t what it used to be. The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” Skinner (pictured left) said.
She even flirted with retirement before recommitting herself to the sport, marrying NFL star Jonathan Owens and achieving one of the greatest comeback stories in athletics history.
She is an almost incomparable inspiring firework.
So why choose to become a lightning rod?
American children today are forced to grow up in a toxic and destructive quagmire of social media negativity.
Simone, I beg you, rise above all this, instead of attacking an irrelevant ex-student.
Please accept Skinner’s apology. Please stop this unnecessary online harassment from his followers, report cyber threats and be the shining example in your public life that you are on the Olympic podium.
A woman who has overcome so much can surely overcome this petty childishness.
Fall of the Waltz
Maybe Kamala Harris just has bad taste in men, because her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is arguably the worst kind of politician.
He poses as a popular centrist, but in reality he is just another spineless progressive willing to risk his safety for his political ambitions.
During the 2020 George Floyd riots, he idly stood by as Minneapolis, his state’s largest city, burned, delaying for three full days before deploying the National Guard.
Don’t take it away from me.
A scathing Senate autopsy found that Walz had failed miserably, delaying too long and sending too few National Guardsmen when he finally responded.
But her daughter Hope Walz, 23, a friend from the riots, was certainly busy.
As the city burned on May 28, 2020, she tweeted: “The Guard will NOT be out arresting people tonight.”
That same Senate Committee report found that Timid Tim had allowed Hope “to access confidential information which he then disseminated to rioters,” which “unnecessarily endangered law enforcement, Minnesota State Troopers and the Minnesota National Guard.”
Beautiful family.
On top of all that, Walz has now been found to have embellished his own service record in the Army National Guard.
He claimed to have “carried” weapons “in the war”, but was only posted to Italy and Norway (true conflict zones!).
Tim and Doug Emhoff, the lying, babysitting whore, will get along very well.
Dirty Dougie
Speaking of our red-faced Second Gentleman:
After Dumpy Doug confessed last week that he had slept with his young family’s busty blonde caregiver during his first marriage to ex-wife Kerstin, those close to Kamala insist she knew about the forbidden tryst, but was nonetheless left “humiliated and bewildered.”
And she It was not Talking about your choice of Tim Walz!
BEAR-believable mind
Tinfoil-hatted madman RFK Jr admitted this week to dumping a dead bear in New York’s Central Park and staging the scene to look like a bicycle accident because he thought it would be “funny.”
The stunt sparked an infamous unsolved mystery and marks the first time the Kennedy pariah has debunked a conspiracy rather than fueling it.
Tinfoil-hatted madman RFK Jr admitted this week to abandoning a dead bear (above) in New York’s Central Park and staging the scene to look like a bicycle accident because he thought it would be “funny.”
Problems with the posts
French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati became a global phenomenon after narrowly ruining an Olympic bid last weekend.
Let’s just say his package didn’t arrive at its destination when his baguette crashed into the crossbar in Paris and shattered his medal dreams.
Ammirati did not directly address the incident, but expressed regret, saying: “It is a great disappointment.”
I’m sure it is.
Very rare
Congratulations to rapper Machine Gun Kelly, who has celebrated one year of sobriety after a stint in rehab.
Although I fear he is still battling a deeper addiction: the need for attention.
He and actress Megan Fox broke off their engagement last year, though they still refuse to define their union, joking in interviews that they are “soulmates.”
Meanwhile, she boasts about how they drink vials of each other’s blood (‘for ritual purposes only’) and MGK has embarked on a painful publicity stunt, tattooing his entire torso and arms in black.
He and actress Megan Fox broke off their engagement last year, though they still refuse to define their union, joking in interviews that they are “soulmates.”
Too hot for Paris
Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso was banned from the Olympic Village this week after being deemed to have created an “inappropriate atmosphere.”
While no further details have been officially released, some later reports claimed that Alonso’s skimpy outfits and willingness to show off her spectacular body outside the pool had distracted other athletes.
Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso was banned from the Olympic Village this week after being deemed to have created an “inappropriate atmosphere.”
Can you blame her?
She didn’t even make it past the first round of the 100m butterfly, maybe she’ll have better luck posting sexy photos on OnlyFans.
Awesome Scott!
Last year, the endlessly single Sen. Tim Scott was dragged by detractors who scoffed that his quick engagement to glamorous interior designer Mindy Noce was orchestrated to boost his chances of being elected Trump’s vice president.
But now that couch potato JD Vance has landed that job, Scott has put lurid speculation to rest and married Noce last Saturday in sunny Charleston.
Scott has long dedicated his life to a strong Christian faith and has practiced abstinence for most of his 58 years. I hope this happy union has been worth it.