MyKayla Skinner claims that her controversial comments about Simone Biles and the United States’ gymnastics team for the Paris Olympics were misunderstood. She issued an extremely weak apology after getting called out by many of her former teammates, as well as their families.
It certainly did not help to clear the air.
Skinner, 27, retired from the sport after winning a silver medal on the vault in Tokyo. Her performance in 2021 was extremely impressive, especially as an alternate, but it flew under the radar while Suni Lee won the all-around gold medal and Biles dealt with the twisties.
Now three years later, Skinner believes that the team for Paris is not up to the same level. In her opinion, it is a testament to the current state of U.S. gymnastics as a whole. She doesn’t think it’s what it should be.
Skinner expressed her thoughts during a two-hour+ video on YouTube that she has since made private.
Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be. I mean, obviously a lot of the girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic.
— MyKayla Skinner
Her comments continued on to discuss the U.S. Center for SafeSport. The Congress-run independent authority was created in 2017 “to prevent and respond to all forms of abuse and misconduct within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement.” Skinner implied that it prevents coaches from pushing their athletes to the fullest extent.
A lot of girls don’t work as hard. It’s hard too because of SafeSport. Coaches can’t get on athletes which in some ways is really good but at the same time, to get to where you need to be in gymnastics you do have to be a little aggressive, a little intense.
— MyKayla Skinner
Skinner also suggested that she would’ve made this year’s team if she had come back.
thoughts? 🤓 pic.twitter.com/3xvMeEGxKe
— liam (@bilestripledbl) July 3, 2024
All of these comments come with especially poor timing. First and foremost, gymnastics is a sport that is often caught in serious scandal. SafeSport was created to protect the athletes.
Secondly, this year’s Olympic gymnastics team was/is riddled with injury. We don’t know what it might’ve looked like if everybody was healthy.
Simone Biles fired back at Makayla Skinner.
Biles responded to her former teammate’s comments on Threads.
Not everyone needs a mic and a platform.
— Simone Biles
Jordan Chiles’ mother was equally as surprised by what Skinner essentially had to say about her daughter.
The criticism was far and wide. Skinner caught a lot of heat and was forced to issue an apology.
However, her apology didn’t make things any better.
Hey guys just wanted to pop on here really quick cuz I know we did the re-cap on YouTube and I feel like a lot of you guys had misinterpreted or misunderstood exactly what I was meaning or had said.
A lot of the stuff that I was talking about wasn’t always necessarily about the current team because I love and support all the girls that made it and I’m so proud of them. It was more about going back into my own gym and just the work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the Marta (Karolyi) era.
— MyKayla Skinner
Karolyi was very successful as the U.S. National Team Coordinator. However, she allegedly abused the athletes (by starving or slapping them, among other things) and turned a blind to Larry Nassar. Her legacy is marred by a lot of horrible accusations by former United States gymnasts.
Skinner isn’t defending Karolyi. Rather, she is pointing to the differences between past and present.
And I’m not sticking up for Marta or saying what she did was good. I’m just saying it was different. So anyway, sorry for anything that got out of context or seemed hurtful; that was never my intention and seriously, throughout the video.
— MyKayla Skinner
Either way, the apology does not help to clear the air. It may actually make things worse.
There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to this year’s Olympics roster. Expectations are high, but there is no telling how this team will perform. We don’t know for sure.
What we do know for sure is that MyKayla Skinner will be watching from home.