Simone Biles’ Olympics victory lap took a curious turn Wednesday when the star gymnast revealed she had been “blocked.”
Hours after she appeared to shade former teammate MyKayla Skinner following Team USA’s first-place finish Tuesday in the gymnastics team final at the Paris Games, the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympics history said Wednesday on X that she’s “been blocked.”
Biles, 27, did not provide further context after the initial post, which featured the emojis of eyeballs, a crying laughing face and a hand-over-mouth animation.
Skinner, an Olympic silver medalist who competed with Biles in Tokyo, was met with backlash Tuesday following previous critical comments about the gymnastics team’s “work ethic.”
Biles used similar verbiage in an Instagram caption Tuesday as she celebrated the gold-medal moment with teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera.
“Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions ❤️🥇🇺🇸,” the five-time Olympic gold medalist posted.
Biles’ teammates backed her in the aftermath.
“And that’s on periodt!!” Chiles commented.
Former Team USA gymnast, McKayla Maroney also weighed in and posted a savage message.
“It doesn’t get more iconic than this.. She f’d around n found out fr. Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name,” Maroney, who retired in 2016 after winning gold and silver at the 2012 London Olympics, wrote.
In her previous comments, Skinner said Team USA lacked depth, with the exception of Biles.
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be. Just notice like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” Skinner said in a since-deleted YouTube video, which has gone viral on X.
Skinner walked back her comments and apologized to the gymnastics community in a statement on social media after facing backlash earlier this month.
Skinner, who retired from the sport after the 2021 Games, celebrated Team USA’s win Tuesday in an Instagram Story.
