Did Mykayla Skinner Shade Team USA Gymnasts? Her Comments and Reactions From Fans and Athletes

Like the rest of the nation, gymnast MyKayla Skinner had her eyes peeled on the 2024 Olympic Trials. In June 2024, she shared her thoughts on the Paris hopefuls and her critique ​of the athletes’ “work ethic” had people flipping out.

Did MyKayla Skinner Shade Team USA Gymnasts?

Excluding 2024 Olympian Simone Biles, MyKayla claimed “the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be.”

“I mean, obviously, a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic. A lot of girls don’t work as hard,” MyKayla said in the since-deleted YouTube video. “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.”

The U.S. Center for SafeSport is a non-profit organization that helps protect athletes and maintain their safety.

Olympians and Fans React to MyKayla Skinner’s Comments

MyKayla’s video made its rounds amongst the 2024 Team USA gymnasts, who include Simone, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee and Hezly Rivera.

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Simone seemingly reacted to the Arizona native’s statement via Threads on July 3, 2024, writing, “Not everyone needs a mic and a platform.”

While Jordan has remained quiet on the situation, her mother, Gina ​Chiles, had a few words to say.

“Whoa. She really said that out loud and posted it. That’s something,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, fans slammed MyKayla via X after clips of her video made its rounds around the social media app.

“This ain’t it, she comes off as a hater and desperate to stay relevant in any way or form. She would get so much more support if she posted a nice video even giving out constructive criticism but this is just straight up hate!” one person wrote.

A second person replied, “She’s saying this as if she didn’t get beat by several of these gymnasts at the last Olympic trials … and last Olympics …”

MyKayla stepped in for Simone at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and took home Silver on the vault.

MyKayla Skinner ​Addresses Her Comment About Team USA Gymnasts

MyKayla cleared up her controversial statements via Instagram Stories on July 3, 2024.

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“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,” she said in the video. “It was more about going back into my own gym.”

MyKayla went on to apologize again and shared how “pumped” she was when she made the live reaction video.

“I love those girls and I’m seriously so happy for them,” she continued. “I would never do anything to make them feel otherwise. So, sorry if that came out wrong, that was not my intentions at all.”

Simone Biles Seemingly Clapped Back at MyKayla Skinner

After the U.S. women’s gymnastics team won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Simone seemingly threw some shade at her former teammate via Instagram.

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“Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” Simone wrote on July 30, 2024, alongside a photo of her and teammates Jade, Jordan, Hezly and Suni celebrating their win.

People in the comments quickly noticed that Simone’s caption was likely a clapback to MyKayla’s previous comments.

“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,” McKayla Maroney, a former Olympic gymnast, wrote.

Nastia Liukin added, “Mic drop,” while Simone’s husband, Jonathan Owens, wrote, “F AROUND AND FIND OUT.”