The ongoing feud between former Olympic gymnast MyKayla Skinner and current Olympic champion Simone Biles took another turn on Aug. 6 when Skinner posted an emotional video to her Instagram account pleading with Biles to help her deal with the negative attention she’s received in the last few weeks.
Skinner found herself the target of online vitriol after comments she made before the Olympics about Team USA’s work ethic, calling out all of Team USA’s current gymnasts except for Biles, her teammate at the 2020 Olympics.
After Team USA won the team Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Biles captioned a post of a picture of the team on her Instagram on July 30 with: “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions,” seemingly referring to Skinner Harmer’s pre-Olympic comments.
After the post, Skinner says the negative attention toward her family went up another level, including physical threats against her husband, 20-month-old daughter and herself.
“Watching people cheer on the bullying which has led to threats of physical harm to me, my husband and our daughter is … disgusting,” Skinner said. “So please at this point I am just asking for it to just stop for the sake of my family because enough is enough. My family and my friends don’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire here, because they’ve done nothing.”
“To Simone, I asking you directly and publicly to please put a stop to this. Please ask your followers to stop. You have been an incredible champion for mental health awareness and a lot of people need your help now. We’ve been hurt and attacked in ways that I am certain you never intended.”
What Were Skinner’s Original Comments?
Skinner’s original comments on Team USA before the Olympics were the original source of friction between herself and her former team.
“Besides Simone (Biles), I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be,” Skinner said in a now-deleted YouTube video that was saved and reposted on X. “I just noticed like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic . . . and it’s hard too because of SafeSport. Coaches can’t get on athletes. They have to be really careful what they say, which in some ways is really good. But at the same time, to get to where you need to be in gymnastics, you do have to be, I feel like, a little aggressive and a little intense.”
Skinner was an alternate on Team USA in the 2016 Olympics and won a silver medal in the vault at the 2020 Olympics, when Biles made the decision to withdrawal from the team finals and individual all-around finals, citing mental health concerns.
Skinner Apologized for Team USA diss
On July 7, Skinner went on her Instagram account and posted both a formal, written apology and a video apology to Team USA.
“I want to formally apologize to Team USA and to our gymnastic community for my comments during my recent YouTube episodes of the gymnastics Olympic trials,” Skinner wrote. “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.”
Along with winning the gold medal in the team competition in 2024, Biles also won a gold medal in the individual all-around and the vault.
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Skinner Makes Plea to Biles After Olympic Controversy Fuels ‘Threats’ Against Family