7x Olympic Gold Medalist Simone Biles APOLOGIZES to Riley Gaines for ‘Personal’ Attack Regarding Trans Athlete Controversy

On Tuesday, Simone Biles apologized to Riley Gaines on X after she attacked her on social media regarding the trans athlete controversy.

7x Olympic Gold Medalist Simone Biles APOLOGIZES to Riley Gaines for ‘Personal’ Attack Regarding Trans Athlete Controversy

Simone Biles and Riley Gaines (Image via NBC News/Imago)

A few days after attacking her online, Simone Biles apologized to Riley Gaines on Tuesday. The 7-time Olympic gold medalist had called the former NCAA swimmer a “bully” and “sore loser” in a tweet on X over the trans athlete controversy.

In the past few years, Gaines has become a huge name in the movement regarding the ban of trans athletes from women’s sports. The ex-Kentucky swimmer has become a women’s activist and has often spoken on this matter.

On Friday, she would take a swipe at a championship winning softball team. Gaines pointed out that the pitcher of the team was a trans athlete, who competed in women’s competition.

After she pointed this out, Biles would lash out at her. The gymnast would share a long message on X and slam her for this.

@Riley_Gaines_ You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!! But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!

In another tweet, Biles would urge the ex-swimmer to ‘bully‘ someone of her size.

Biles later found herself under severe backlash as many social media users supported Gaines and slammed her for her comments. After almost 3 days, the Olympic champion broke her silence and apologized to Gaines on X for her personal attacks.

I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for.

The 28-year-old Olympian further explained that her objection was “singling out children for public scrutiny“, pointing out Gaines’ tweet against the softball player. Later in the day, Gaines would accept her apology.

Riley Gaines urges Simone Biles to come forward in her ‘fight” to support girls after accepting her apology

On Tuesday, Simone Biles would extend an olive branch to Riley Gaines for her attacks on her. Gaines would accept the apology and call her the greatest female gymnast of all time. However, she later urged the Olympian to come forward in her ‘fight’ to support girls.

Riley Gaines and Simone Biles
Riley Gaines and Simone Biles (Image via Imago)

In a lengthy tweet on X, the 25-year-old expressed that her reason for signaling out children was because “boys are publicly humiliating the girls” which is something wrong according to her.

Women’s sports can’t be used as an excuse for girl’s to center the feelings and validation of men and boys. I welcome you to the fight to support fair sports and a future for female athletes. Little girls deserve the same shot to achieve that you had.

Gaines has been highly vocal regarding the participation of trans athletes in women’s events after she competed against Lia Thomas. During the 2022 NCAA championship, Thomas, the trans swimmer, would tie with Gaines.

The former PENN swimmer, along with several other women, was not happy to share a locker room with “biological male” Thomas. Since then, she and many other former college swimmers have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing Thomas to compete against them and claimed that the NCAA violated Title IX rights.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned trans athletes from women’s sports. Gaines was among several women present at the White House besides Trump and cheered on as the President signed the order.

Riley Gaines previously tweeted that she felt bad for Simone Biles

Simone Biles found herself in hot water after she launched a personal attack on Riley Gaines through two tweets. Before she apologized for her action, Gaines tweeted out that she felt for the gymnast as she kept on getting dragged on social media.

Riley Gaines and Simone Biles
Riley Gaines and Simone Biles (Image via Imago)

Several people came out in support of Gaines and bashed Biles. In a tweet on X, Gaines shared clips from TikTok and pointed out that Biles was still receiving flak for her comments and expressed sorrow towards it.

In case you were wondering, Simone Biles is still getting dragged on TikTok. I almost feel bad for her.

Biles is one of the most successful athletes of this current generation. She is the 2nd most decorated female gymnast in Olympic history with 11 medals, with 7 of them being gold.

After a hiatus due to some personal reasons, she would return to the competition in 2023. At the Paris Games in 2024, she added 3 more gold medals to her tally and once again stunned the audiences with her jaw-dropping performances.

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