MyKayla Skinner seemed to extend an olive branch to the women’s gymnast team for Team USA after they won the gold medal during the all-around event on Tuesday, July 30. MyKayla, 27, had previously been critical of the team, calling out their “work ethic,” but after the Simone Biles-led team won, she shared a post showing support for the team.
MyKayla posted a photo of the team, consisting of Simone, Jade Carey, Suni Lee, Jordan Chile, and Hezley Rivera. In the shot, all five ladies were wearing their gold medals and blue jumpsuits. They each had their hands placed over their heart. MyKayla simply put three heart emojis along with the photo, but she didn’t offer any other commentary.
MyKayla, who won a silver medal in 2021, suffered some backlash after she called out four of the members of Team USA in 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,” she said, per Page Six.
Following a wave of backlash, MyKayla posted an apology to Simone’s four teammates. “It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or take away from their hard work,” she said. “Your hard work and dedication has paid off and I congratulate each and every one of you.”
After Team USA won, Simone seemed to shade MyKayla in her post celebrating the team’s victory. “Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions,” she wrote in the caption. In a comment on the gymnastics icon’s post, fellow retired gymnast McKayla Maroney supported Simone shading the silver medal winner. “She f’d around n found out [for real],” she wrote, per Page Six. “Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name.”