Simone Biles opened up about why she felt it was crucial to stand up for her teammates at the 2024 Paris Olympics . “It’s important because you have to teach them to use their voices,” Biles, 27, told People in an interview published on Tuesday, August 6. “And if not, you’re a voice for the voiceless, which is OK.
” After she and fellow teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera won gold in the team finals last month, Biles captioned her Instagram upload, “Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions ❤️🥇🇺🇸.” The comment was seemingly a response to previous remarks made by former teammate MyKayla Skinner , who said in a since-deleted YouTube video that this year’s squad lacked a “work ethic.” She later apologized for the video, writing in a July Instagram Story statement, “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 the work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the Marta [Karolyi] era.” Biles told the outlet that it “meant a lot” to her teammates to have “somebody to stand up” for them. She added that it felt like the right moment to take a stance “because they’re so young and they haven’t fully stood in their power yet.
” In the wake of Biles’ post, Skinner, 27, blocked her former teammate on social media. “Oop I’ve been blocked 👀🫢😂,” Biles wrote via X on Wednesday, July 31. Later that da.