Simone Biles was in a confrontational mood after winning her fifth gold medal, delivering some choice words to a former teammate.
Simone Biles had some choice words for an ex-teammate in her celebratory social media post after Team USA’s women’s gymnastics team emerged victorious and claimed gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Biles, who became the most decorated gymnast in US history after Tuesday’s win, seemingly clapped back at her former teammate Mykayla Skinner following her critical comments about the team’s “work ethic”.
“Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” the 27-year-old athlete captioned her Instagram post after the win.
In the post, Biles can be seen posing with her teammates Suni Lee, Hezly Rivera, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles after topping the scoreboard.
Simone Biles (centre) and teammates are seen during the artistic gymnastics women’s team final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Photo by Lionel Bonaventure/AFP)
Biles’ tongue-in-cheek caption appeared to take aim at Skinner’s previous harsh remarks about the Olympic squad.
The former gymnast, who retired after winning a silver medal on the vault at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, later walked back her remarks amid major backlash.
“It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or take away from their hard work,” Skinner posted on Instagram July 6. “Your hard work and dedication has paid off and I congratulate each and every one of you.”
Skinner and Biles both represented USA at the 2014 World Championships.
Mykayla Skinner and Simone Biles were teammates in Tokyo. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Tuesday’s success saw Biles front the American squad to its third all-around team gold medal in the past four Olympics.
The US team beat Italy and Brazil, who took home silver and bronze medals, respectively.
The gold medal served as a welcome rebound from a disappointing showing four years ago in Tokyo. It also marked Biles’ fifth career Olympic gold medal — along with one silver and two bronze.
Her eight Olympic medals are the most for any American gymnast, one more than Shannon Miller, who won in 1992 and 1996.
The 2024 Paris Olympics are her third, as she also was a member of the gold-medal squad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016.
Biles will now prepare to compete in the individual all-around finals, which kicks off on Aug. 1.
She’ll have the opportunity to take home up to four more medals as she competes with several others, including her teammate Suni Lee, who struck gold in Tokyo.
Biles previously referred to the 2024 Olympics as the “redemption tour” for the US women’s team after they won silver while competing in Tokyo in 2021.
