MyKayla Skinner Blocks Simone Biles on Instagram Amid Apparent Feud: Photo
Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles confirmed the feud between Simone and MyKayla in a new Instagram Story.
MyKayla Skinner and Simone Biles are not on good terms, Jordan Chiles confirmed. One day after Team USA won gold at the Paris Olympics, Jordan, 23, shared a photo of a phone screen, revealing that MyKayla, 27, had blocked Simone, 27, on Instagram.
“When she blocks Simone,” Jordan wrote across the image via her Instagram Stories on Wednesday, July 31. One day prior, Simone seemingly threw shade at MyKayla in an Instagram post while celebrating their team victory. Simone even tweeted, “Oop I’ve been blocked” shortly thereafter.
oop I’ve been blocked 👀🫢😂
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) July 31, 2024
“Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions,” the GOAT of gymnastics captioned the post. Although she didn’t mention her former teammate’s name, fans believed that Simone was subtly calling out MyKayla over her past remarks about current gymnasts.
In June, a video went viral of MyKayla criticizing modern gymnasts over their lack of “talent” and “work ethic.”
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be,” MyKayla said in the clip. “Just notice, like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic.”
The former Olympian clarified that her comments were “not necessarily about the current team.” Additionally, MyKayla noted that the modern “work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the Márta [Károlyi] era.” Márta was the main coordinator for U.S. Olympic gymnasts and is known for her strict coaching methods.
“And I’m not sticking up for Márta or saying what she did was good, I’m just saying it was different,” MyKayla added. “So anyway, sorry for anything that got out of context or seemed hurtful. That is never my intention. And seriously, throughout the video, I was so pumped for the girls, and it was so fun watching trials and doing a live with everybody.”
— MyKayla Skinner (Harmer) (@mykaylaskinner) July 6, 2024
According to a follow-up statement shared via X, MyKayla apologized to the gymnastics community, insisting that it was “not [her] 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,” she continued in her statement. “Upon reflection, I was comparing the ‘Marta Era’ to the current era. I am coming to terms that I have not fully dealt with the emotional and verbal abuse I endured under Marta that perhaps led to my hurtful comments. I take full responsibility for what I said and I deeply apologize. It is most important to me that the sport I love continue down the path of healing and ensures a positive environment for all. I wish you all the very best in Paris. I will be cheering you all on! Go Team USA!”
MyKayla previously competed as an individual in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and was an alternate at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Simone competed in both games.