Who is former gymnast MyKayla Skinner? The 2020 silver medallist criticised Team USA in a YouTube video – but Simone Biles clapped back
- Skinner said in the video that the ‘talent and the depth [of the US gymnastics team] isn’t what it used to be,’ and has since deleted the clip and apologised
- But Biles seemed to throw shade back at her former teammate with a cheeky Instagram post she shared last week when the team won gold
Simone Biles – the most decorated US gymnast of all time – seemed to throw shade back at former teammate MyKayla Skinner in an Instagram post she shared last week.
According to CNN Sports, netizens believe the caption is a clap back at Skinner, who criticised the Team USA gymnasts in a YouTube video. “Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be,” she said in the since-deleted clip. “A lot of girls don’t work as hard,” she added. “The girls just don’t have the work ethic.”
Unsurprisingly, this caused a lot of backlash in the sporting community. Biles appeared to respond to Skinner in a post shared on Threads earlier in the month that simply read: “not everyone needs a mic and a platform”.
Skinner, 27, has since come forward to defend her comments, taking to her Instagram Stories to say that she had been “misinterpreted or misunderstood,” notes CNN Sports. “It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work,” she added in another post shared on X. “I take full responsibility for what I said and I deeply apologise.”
But this is not the first time Skinner has made headlines for the wrong reasons. Here’s what we know about the controversial former gymnast:
MyKayla Skinner is a former artistic gymnast
