An event of unmatched significance, the Olympic Games hosts the crème de la crème of the sporting world. From fierce rivalries among the greatest to controversies shaking the world, the Olympics are a happening event in more than one way.
In fact, at this point, the controversies and drama have become somewhat of a tradition.
While the world was trying to free itself from the grasp of a raging boxing controversy that raised questions of gender discrimination and unfair play, a few comments on social media platforms were enough to divert the attention towards a new dispute. This time, it was gymnastics that hogged the limelight.
Feuds among athletes are not uncommon. However, the name of a global superstar like Simone Biles getting linked to the latest one is what created the hype around it.
They once fought shoulder-to-shoulder on the grandest of stages. Today, Biles and MyKayla Skinner have become two fronts of a social media war. Unfortunately, this controversy eclipsed the gold-medal win of the United States of America’s (USA) women’s gymnastics team.
If we have piqued your curiosity about the feud between Simone Biles and MyKayla Skinner at the Paris Olympics 2024, scroll away to learn about the origin of this controversy, along with an overview of the two athletes’ career records.
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The Simone Biles vs MyKayla Skinner controversy: Its origin and timeline
The controversy between Simone Biles and MyKayla Skinner erupted soon after the American women’s gymnastics team won the gold medal in Paris. However, it started long before that.
Albeit an Olympic medal winner with the American women’s gymnastics side, MyKayla Skinner has had a beef with the USA team for nearly a decade. She publicly expressed her disappointment (which, we daresay, was neither soft nor polite) after being left out of the women’s gymnastics squad that represented the USA at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Naturally, the shock of not making it to the Olympics was too hard for her to take, considering she won a gold medal at the World Championships a couple of years back.
However, it seemed as if all was forgotten and forgiven when Skinner made a comeback into the national side in 2019. She was a part of the USA team that won the gold medal at the World Championships in Stuttgart that year.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Skinner replaced Biles in the vault final when the latter opted out citing mental health issues. Skinner finished second and clinched the silver medal. She retired from the sport at the conclusion of the Olympics.
How did the Paris Olympics 2024 reignite the controversy between Biles and Skinner?
Yes, this is exactly the question on everyone’s minds, given that the two of them never indulged in any big argument. If we had to guess, it seems somehow MyKayla Skinner’s bad blood with the national gymnastics team has been rekindled.
In a video uploaded on YouTube, the former athlete bashed the USA’s women’s gymnastics squad that participated at the Paris Olympics 2024. This is what she had to say:
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be. A lot of girls don’t work as hard.”
Skinner attributed this ‘unimpressive’ work ethic to the U.S. Center for SafeSpot, an organisation created in the wake of the infamous sex abuse scandal (which was also made into a Netflix documentary, Athlete A). The video has since been deleted.
Now why was it pertinent to take down Skinner’s video? This is a result of the heavy backlash that the former gymnast received from the sports fraternity.
As a means of damage control, she posted an apology on her Instagram account.
View this post on Instagram
But what role did Biles play in all of this?
Soon after MyKayla Skinner’s video broke the internet, Simone Biles posted her response on Threads:
“not everyone needs a mic and a platform”
View this post on Instagram
A comparison of Simone Biles and MyKayla Skinner’s career stats, medals and net worth
If we try to weigh the career stats and records of Simone Biles and MyKayla Skinner, there is no comparison at all — the former is miles ahead!
Here is how each of their international medals tally stands:
Simone Biles
Olympics:
Gold: Seven
Silver: Two
Bronze: Two
Total: 11
World Championships:
Gold: 23
Silver: Four
Bronze: Three
Total: 30
Pacific Rim Championships:
Gold: Two
Total: Two
FIG World Cup:
Gold: Two
Silver: One
Total: Three
Overall: 46 medals
MyKayla Skinner
Olympics:
Silver: One
Total: One
World Championships:
Gold: Three
Bronze: One
Total: Four
Pan American Championships:
Gold: Four
Total: Four
FIG World Cup:
Gold: One
Silver: One
Total: Two
Overall: 11 medals
Even in terms of the amount of wealth accumulated, Biles holds a strong advantage over Skinner.
According to a report by Celebrity Net Worth, Simone Biles, as of August 2024, commands a net worth of USD 25 million (around HKD 195 million). Meanwhile, reports suggest that MyKayla Skinner’s net worth stands at around USD 1 million (around HKD 8 million).
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(Main Image Credits: Simone Biles/Instagram and MyKayla Skinner (Harmer)/Instagram; Featured Image Credits: MyKayla Skinner (Harmer)/Instagram)
