Simone Biles appeared to respond to critics, including from a former teammate, after winning the women’s gymnastics team gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
Biles, along with Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey, dominated the field, winning by nearly five and a half points over Italy.
On her Instagram, after the achievement, Biles posted a photo of the team with a brutal caption.
“Lack of talent, laziness, Olympic champions,” the message read.
That appears to be a specific criticism of a former Team USA gymnast, MyKayla Skinner, who criticized the team’s makeup in the lead-up to the games.
Members of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team after winning the team gold medal in Paris
Simone Biles captioned her celebratory post with a veiled photo of a former Team USA member.
2020 Olympic team member MyKayla Skinner criticized the 2024 team’s work ethic
In a now-deleted YouTube video, Skinner criticized the team of Biles, Chiles, Lee, Carey and Hezly Rivera for not having the proper “work ethic.”
“Aside from Simone, I feel like the talent and depth isn’t what it used to be,” the 27-year-old said.
“The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” Skinner continued before referencing the Center for SafeSport USA, a nonprofit organization created to reduce sexual abuse of minors and athletes in U.S. Olympic sports.
“And it’s also difficult because of SafeSport. For example, coaches can’t put pressure on athletes and they have to be very careful about what they say.
“Which, in a way, is great. But at the same time, to get to where you need to be in gymnastics, you have to be, I think, a little bit aggressive and a little bit intense.”
Immediately after that, Biles responded to Skinner, writing on Threads: “not everyone needs a microphone and a platform.”
Biles and other gymnasts, including Chiles, Lee and Carey, blocked Skinner on social media after his comments.
Skinner would later apologize for his comments.
Skinner, who won a silver medal on vault at the 2020 Games in Tokyo after replacing Biles, recently criticized the 2024 Olympic gymnastics roster for having “no work ethic.”
Amid backlash over her recent comments, Skinner said in an Instagram video last week: ‘I feel like a lot of you misinterpreted or misunderstood exactly what I meant or what I had said.
‘A lot of the things I was talking about weren’t necessarily always about the current team, because I love and support all the girls who made it and I’m so proud of them.
“It was more about going back to my own gym and the work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the Marta (Karolyi) era. And I’m not defending Marta or saying what she did was good, I’m just saying it was different.”
Several people left comments under the post, with some recognizing who it was directed at.
“NEVER HAVE A DOUBT,” wrote American Olympic skiing sensation Mikaela Shiffrin.
“FOLLOW ME AND FIND OUT,” wrote Biles’ husband and Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, who also commented: “Gold medalist.”
“This title deserves a gold medal too,” wrote one Biles fan.
Another said: “Haha, she’s probably really jealous because you guys won.”
“IN THAT DAMN ORDER, LACK OF TALENT AND LAZY OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS,” wrote another fan. “Simone, you are a threat for this title.”
Biles and Skinner have represented Team USA at several competitions, including the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
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.
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