Gymnast Simone Biles said she was blocked by ex-teammate MyKayla Skinner after she responded to her public criticism that took place before USA's gold medal win in the women's gymnastics team final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"Oop I’ve been blocked," Biles wrote on her X account after calling out Skinner's criticism.
Biles, 27, the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history and beyond, shared an Instagram post of herself and her current USA teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera with the caption "lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions," acknowledging comments made by Skinner, her teammate at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games and the 2014 World Championships.
Skinner praised Biles, but questioned her current teammates' work ethic in the now-viral clip from a since-deleted YouTube video.
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be. Just notice like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” Skinner said at the time.
The retired gymnast later walked back her critical remarks amid backlash.
“It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or take away from their hard work,” Skinner wrote on her Instagram account on July 6.
Biles won her fifth gold and eight overall medal in Olympic play, passing Shannon Miller for the most by an American gymnast. The 27-year-old is already the most decorated gymnast in history with 30 gold, five silver and five bronze medals between the Olympic Games, World Championships and Pacific Rim Championships.
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