Simone Biles, the seven-time Olympic gold medalist, recently caused controversy after engaging in a heated exchange with anti-trans activist Riley Gaines. Following her apology for the targeted comments she made, Biles received a barrage of feedback on the matter. This ultimately led to her decision to delete her X account, previously known as Twitter.
The trigger for Biles deactivating her account, which boasted nearly two million followers, was her defense of a transgender high school athlete who was being targeted by Gaines.
However, Biles’ defense of the athlete included personal insults directed at Gaines, an action she later expressed regret for. This drew a wave of criticism towards the 28-year-old gymnast, widely regarded as the greatest of all time, prompting her to remove her presence from the platform.
Biles still has her accounts on Threads (with 2.1m followers) and Instagram (12.4m followers) active.
Gaines decided to deliver a parting shot to the gymnast, despite saying just yesterday that she’d be interested in forming an alliance with her.
Gaines claimed that Biles ‘-has an incredibly unpopular and morally indefensible take – gets rightfully ridiculed for it – issues a groveling public apology after unrelenting backlash – deletes account to pretend it never happened’.
Seven-time Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Simone Biles has deleted her X account
Biles ignited a war of words with anti-trans activist Riley Gaines three weeks ago. Despite apologizing for her personal attack on Gaines, Biles’ social accounts are still rife with trolls.
Gaines delivered a parting shot to Biles minutes after the Olympic legend’s account deletion
Gaines, who made a career out of politically advocating against trans people in sports after finishing tied for fifth with a trans woman at a swim meet, concluded, ‘Sad to see such a phenom go down like this’.
Earlier this month, Gaines attacked a Minnesota high school on social media for fielding a softball team with a trans player. This came after she also led the charge against a trans girl competing in track events in California.
Biles snapped, lashing out at Gaines and calling her views ‘truly sick’, before getting personal and telling her to ‘bully someone your own size, which would ironically be male’.
A few days later, Biles apologized to Gaines for the personal remarks, saying, ‘These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don’t have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect. I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports. My objection is to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful.
‘Individual athletes — especially kids — should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over.
‘I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful.’
While Gaines accepted the apology at the time, she continued to criticize Biles for her views and opinion – all while using the abuse Biles suffered at the hands of Larry Nassar in defense of her own position.
Biles hasn’t addressed any of the comments that Gaines has made against her after the apology and hasn’t addressed the reason for her account deletion on any other social media platforms.
Biles’ former teammate MyKayla Skinner says she was bullied by the Olympic great
Biles and Skinner – pictured heading to the Tokyo Olympics together in 2021 – fell out last year
With the onslaught of negative remarks directed at her after she went after Gaines, a former Olympic gymnastics teammate of Biles’ has come to the forefront with accusations.
MyKayla Skinner – who notably said that the US Olympic team in last summer’s games in Paris lacked quality outside of Biles – accused the Texas native of bullying.
Skinner’s comments about the team’s quality came before three USA Olympic gymnasts other than Biles – Jade Carey, Sunisa Lee, and Jordan Chiles – all won Olympic medals (Chiles medal was later overturned on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport).
After the war of words with Gaines began, Skinner claimed that there were ‘many times’ in her career where she felt ‘belittled and bullied by Simone’.
