MyKayla Skinner reacts to Team USA winning gold after controversial comments

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MyKayla Skinner has expressed her backing for the 2024 American gymnastics team following their victory in the Women's final on Tuesday, July 30th.

The team won the gold medal after earning the silver medal in Tokyo. This happened when Simone Biles withdrew from the competitions due to experiencing the "twisties." Skinner stepped in as a replacement at that time.

Skinner recently shared a picture of the victorious team on her Instagram Story accompanied by three heart emojis to show her support. Around the same time, Biles also posted a picture on Instagram of herself and the whole team celebrating their victory. In the caption, Biles wrote, "Not talented, unmotivated, Olympic champions."

The remark seemed to be a slight against Skinner, stemming from a YouTube video that has since been removed. In the video, Skinner criticized today's gymnasts for not having the same level of dedication and hard work as previous teams.

Skinner expressed concern that the level of talent and commitment among the gymnasts has decreased compared to when Simone was competing. She mentioned that many girls do not seem to put in as much effort and lack the same strong work ethic.

Skinner also discussed a change in how coaches interact with gymnasts, stating: "Coaches can't be too hard on athletes, which can be positive in some ways. However, in order to excel in gymnastics, you still need to be somewhat assertive and focused."

Not long after the video, Skinner said sorry for her words in an Instagram Story video shared on July 3. She explained that many people didn't understand what she meant or said. She clarified that her comments were not all about the current team, as she loves and supports all the girls who made it and is proud of them.

She explained that returning to her gym felt like a different experience, with a new level of dedication and work ethic compared to the days of gymnastics under Marta Karolyi's leadership.

Skinner explained that she never meant to harm the feelings of the current Olympic team.

"I apologize for anything that may have been misunderstood or caused harm," she added. "During the video, I was really excited for the girls and had a great time watching their trials and doing a live stream with everyone."

"I really care about those girls and I'm genuinely thrilled for them," she explained. "I would never want to do anything to give them a different impression. So, I apologize if my words were misunderstood, that was not what I meant at all."

Nevertheless, Biles seemed to reject the apology because she continued to make a post shortly after saying, "Not everyone needs to speak out publicly."

Following her victory and receiving the gold medal, Biles expressed that the medal holds immense significance to her.

"We are extremely thrilled," she exclaimed. "We are proud to be the representatives of the United States whenever we compete internationally, but achieving that gold medal and reaching our goal was truly a remarkable experience."

"I believe each of us had a point to make after Tokyo, and we showed it tonight. It's really important to us. This was our objective all along, though we kept it to ourselves as it was a personal goal we were focused on achieving."

"I believe this is the reason we all came here for. We are thrilled to leave with the gold medal."