Paris 2024 Olympics: Why did former Team USA gymnast MyKayla Skinner block Simone Biles?
What is going on between Team USA star Simone Biles and former Olympic gymnast MyKayla Skinner?
On Tuesday afternoon, after Team USA women's gymnastics took team gold, the social media posts began to arrive in celebration of their achievement together.
Biles, last to post, made an intentional dig at Skinner with her caption via Instagram, "lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions."
The next day after that post was made, the drama between the two spread. Skinner blocked Biles on Instagram. Biles tweeted about the occasion and Olympic teammate, Jordan Chiles, posted on her Instagram story.
The timeline of this goes way back in an interview with Skinner when she appeared in a now-deleted YouTube video that has now gone viral, where she was criticizing the team and the coaches of Team USA. Skinner went to say, "Besides Simone [Biles], I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't what it used to be. I mean, obviously, a lot of girls don't work as hard. The girls just don't have the work ethic.
After deleting the video off Youtube, Skinner made a statement on social media apologizing.
"I want to formally apologize to Team USA and to our gymnastic community for my comments during my recent YouTube episodes of the gymnastic Olympic trails. It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work. Your hard work and dedication has paid off and I congratulate each and every one of you," Skinner said.
Skinner was a part of the gymnastics squad with Biles that went to compete in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Biles dropped out of the competition after getting the "twisties" during her vault. Skinner retired from gymnastics after Tokyo and did not take part in the Olympic trials for the 2024 games.
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