After voicing her criticism of Team USA women’s gymnasts, MyKayla Skinner sent some love in the form of emojis after they won the gold.
Via her Instagram Story, Skinner, 27, reposted an image of Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee and Hezly Rivera receiving their gold medals on Tuesday, July 30. Skinner captioned her post with three red heart emojis.
Skinner’s post comes amid controversy as she previously called out Carey, Chiles, Lee and Rivera’s work ethic. The drama seemed to provide inspiration for Biles’ post-victory Instagram post.
“Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions,” Biles, 27, captioned a Tuesday Instagram message, sharing a photo with her teammates holding up the American flag on the podium.
Biles’ teammates and former Olympians alike shared their support in the comments section.
“And that’s on periodt!!” Chiles, 23, responded.
Lee, 21, also commented on the post, writing, “Put a finger down if simone biles just ended you 🖐🏼.”
McKayla Maroney, meanwhile, added: “It doesn’t get more iconic than this. She f’d around n found out fr. Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name.”
Last month, Skinner insinuated that Biles was the only current Olympic teammate who works hard.
“Besides Simone, 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,” Skinner said in a June YouTube video, discussing the Olympic trials. “A lot of girls don’t work as hard. It’s hard too because of SafeSport. Coaches can’t get on athletes 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 … a little aggressive, a little intense.”
The U.S. Center for SafeSport is an independent organization that is designed to prevent and respond “to sexual, physical, and emotional abuse” in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movement, per a website description. It is not known whether SafeSport is investigating any misconduct surrounding the 2024 Olympic team, who have dubbed themselves “The Golden Girls.”
Skinner later apologized for her remarks and claimed that her words were “misinterpreted.”
“I love and support all the girls that made it and I’m so proud of them,” she said in an Instagram Story statement earlier this month. “It was more about going back into my own gym and the work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the Marta [Karolyi] era.”
Karolyi was the former national team coordinator for USA Gymnastics, during a period where athletes were allegedly required to follow strict rules and under the care of disgraced team doctor Larry Nassar.
“I’m not sticking up for Marta or saying what she did was good,” Skinner said at the time. “I’m just saying it was different. So sorry for anything that got out of context or seemed hurtful; I love those girls and I’m seriously so happy for them so I would never do anything to make them feel otherwise.”
Biles reacted to the controversy at the time, posting online: “Not everyone needs a mic and a platform.”
