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MyKayla Skinner has entered the chat.
The retired Olympic gymnast, 28, has accused former teammate Simone Biles of bullying, days after the 11-time Olympic medalist apologized to Riley Gaines for comments made during a heated social media debate over transgender athletes.
Speaking recently on “The Will Cain Show,” Skinner reiterated sentiments made in a statement Friday to One America News that alleged she “endured being belittled, dismissed, and ostracized behind the scenes by Simone.”
“Well, throughout my career, there’s been many times where I have been belittled and bullied by Simone and have wanted to keep quiet for the other athletes,” Skinner said on Fox News.
“And there’s just been many times through my Olympic journey and through camps, training, everything that we have gone through, have been multiple times where she has come and belittled all of us, and I’ve wanted to stay silent through this because she has a huge platform.”
Skinner’s comments to Cain come days after she spoke out in support of Gaines, who engaged in a fiery back-and-forth with Biles earlier this month.
“As an athlete who has dedicated years to a sport, I’ve always believed that true competition should elevate us—not diminish others. That’s why it’s deeply troubling to see @Simone_Biles publicly label a fellow female athlete a ‘sore loser’—simply for expressing valid concerns about fairness in women’s sports,” Skinner said in a statement Friday.
“I commend and appreciate @Riley_Gaines_ for having the courage to speak up. Women like her are not only standing for fairness, but for the future of female athletics itself. She deserves support—not ridicule.
“Throughout my own career, I endured being belittled, dismissed, and ostracized behind the scenes by Simone. The pressure to stay silent was immense. I kept quiet out of respect—for the sport, for my teammates, and for the ideal of unity among athletes.”
Reps at Octagon, which counts Biles as part of its roster of talent, did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Former teammates at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Skinner and Biles, 28, became entangled in a war of words last July on the eve of the Summer Games in Paris.
Skinner, an Olympic silver medalist, criticized the “work ethic” of the 2024 gymnastics squad.
Biles, who won gold in Paris alongside Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Hezly Rivera, appeared to shade Skinner with the Instagram caption, “Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.”
Skinner, who apologized for the remarks, later made an emotional plea to Biles over “death threats” she and her loved ones received in the fallout.
She concluded her statement Friday by stressing the importance of “lifting each other up — not tearing one another down for speaking hard truths.”
The heated social media debate between Gaines and Biles first sparked headlines after the Outkick contributor responded to an early June post about a Minnesota high school softball team that won a state championship with a transgender pitcher on its roster.
“Comments off lol,” Gaines wrote. “To be expected when your star player is a boy.”
Biles later called Gaines, 25, “truly sick” for the comments.
“You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!” Biles exclaimed. “But instead … You bully them…”
In a follow-up message, Biles wrote, “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”
Days after the fiery back-and-forth, Biles expanded on her “fair competition” stance in a lengthy message on X, where she issued an apology to Gaines.
“I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for,” Biles wrote last week.
“These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don’t have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect.”
Gaines said she accepted Biles’ apology in a statement on X.
“I welcome you to the fight to support fair sports and a future for female athletes. Little girls deserve the same shot to achieve that you had,” she said.
English (US)