MyKayla Skinner's words regarding Team USA's work ethic were used by Simone Biles in her caption after the squad won the gold medal in the team all-around final.
On Tuesday, August 6, the 27-year-old woman, who was born and raised in Arizona, posted a video reaction to her Instagram account. In the clip, MyKayla detailed the experiences she has had with cyberbullying as well as "threats of physical harm."
“I sincerely hoped that this topic wouldn’t need to be revisited, but unfortunately, things have really gotten out of hand lately. And it’s one thing to disagree with me regarding something I have said or a point I was trying to make, but it’s something else entirely when that turns into cyber bullying or even worse. Watching people cheer on the bullying — which has led to threats of physical harm to me my husband and our daughter — is disgusting. So please at this point, I’m just asking for it to stop for the sake of my family because enough is enough,” MyKayla stated.
The silver medalist said once more that everything started when she made comments "about work ethic and what seems to be taking place with the rising generation." MyKayla went on to say that she accepted responsibility for "poorly articulating the point" and highlighted the fact that she had never intended to be offensive to the gymnasts who compete for Team USA.
“I know these women are incredible — the very best of the best — and almost all of them are my former teammates who I have enjoyed very much cheering on the last few years,” she continued.
Following the outrage that she received for her initial comments, MyKayla recalled the apology video that she had subsequently posted. Simone, who is 27 years old, "responded and told me that she was proud of me," she explained, and she believed that she had reached a point of reconciliation with her. On the other hand, she was taken aback when she discovered that the gold medalist had made a reference to her comments in the Instagram post that she had made.
“If Simone truly believes that I called our team lazy and lacking talent and if that’s really how she feels, I am really heartbroken over it. But not just heartbroken because it isn’t what I feel or even how I previously said, but because Simone’s latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments, DMs, articles and emails. Hate that includes death threats to me, my family and even my agent. My family and my friends don’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire here. They’ve done nothing,” MyKayla went on.
At the end of the conversation, MyKayla made a direct request to Simone to assist in putting an end to the cyberbullying.
“Please ask your followers to stop. You have been an incredible champion for mental health awareness and a lot of people need your help now. We’ve been attacked in ways that I’m certain you never intended. Your performance, the team’s performance and the Olympics in general should be a time that we support one another,” she stated.
Following Team USA's victory in the team all-around final on July 30, Simone made news when she made a reference to MyKayla's comments in the description of her Instagram post. “Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” she wrote.
During the Olympic Trials, which took place in late June, MyKayla made her initial comments in a video that was uploaded to YouTube and has since been removed, Life & Style Magazine reported.
“Besides Simone, I feel like 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. 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,” she said.
In the apologies that she issued, MyKayla stated that her remarks were "misunderstood" and that she "wasn't necessarily [talking] about the current team."
Business Times has reached out to Simone Biles for comments.
