Simone Biles celebrates Olympic victory with scathing comment after former teammate criticises

Simone Biles appeared to respond to criticism from former teammate MyKayla Skinner following the U.S. gymnastics team’s victory at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.

Biles, 27, shared photos of herself and teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera celebrating their gold medal in the team gymnastics final, with the caption “lack of talent, lazy Olympic champions.”

The Instagram post appears to be a response to controversial comments from Skinner, 27, who criticized the gymnasts on Team USA in a YouTube video following the team’s selection on June 30.

«Other than Simone, I feel like the talent and depth isn’t what it used to be,» Skinner said in the video, which has since been deleted.

«A lot of those girls don’t work as hard,» she added. «The girls just don’t have the work ethic.»

Biles appeared to respond in a post on Threads that read “not everyone needs a microphone and a platform.”

Skinner then posted a video defending her comments on Instagram Stories, claiming she had been “misinterpreted or misunderstood.”

However, she later apologized in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, amid online backlash.

“It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or take away from their hard work,” she wrote.

“I take full responsibility for what I said and deeply apologize.”

Skinner and Biles both competed for Team USA at the 2026 Tokyo Olympics. Skinner retired after winning a silver medal on vault.

After winning team gold on Tuesday, Biles now has the most Olympic medals of any American gymnast in history, adding to her title as the most decorated gymnast of all time.