Stephen A. Smith Condemns Simone Biles’ Stance on Trans Athletes While Questioning Riley Gaines’ Low Blows

Simone Biles and Riley Gaines' feud regarding trans athletes in women's sports has blown up into a massive debate.

Stephen A. Smith Condemns Simone Biles’ Stance on Trans Athletes While Questioning Riley Gaines’ Low Blows

Stephen A. Smith slammed Simone Biles' stance of trans athletes in beef with Riley Gaines (Image via FirstSportz)

Over the past few days, the topic that has dominated sports media has been the spat between gymnastics superstar Simone Biles and Riley Gaines. The two have been raging a war of words surrounding their individual stance on the matter of trans athletes, which caught the attention of Stephen A. Smith.

He has seen how Gaines first called out the Minnesota State High School League’s champions, Champlin Park, for fielding a trans athlete in their squad. She believed them fielding ‘a boy’ was against the rules of women’s and girls’ sports, and they should be ashamed for allowing the student to participate.

Her comment soon gained traction and came to the attention of Biles. The 7-time Olympic gold medal winner called out Gaines for targeting children to make her point. Stephen A. Smith decided to address the issue on his podcast by lambasting Biles’ stance on trans athletes being included in women’s sports.

It is a disservice to women in a lot of people’s eyes that men transitioning to women get to compete in women’s sports. You are born, you’ve got an XY chromosome, it is what it is. It’s different. The reality is that there is an abundance of women out there who have a right to feel the way Riley Gaines feels Simone Biles.

Stephen A. Smith said

The basketball analyst clarified that there have been enough examples of how women fare against men. On top of that, with Article 9 in force, trans athletes should not have been allowed to compete in women’s sports.

Stephen A. Smith lashed out at Riley Gaines’ low blows towards Simone Biles

Stephen A. Smith was making a point that when everyone is fighting for women’s rights and equality, allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s sports is undermining that fight. At the same time, he did not appreciate how Riley Gaines referenced Larry Nassar‘s abuse of Simone Biles as being similar to trans inclusivity.

Respectfully, Gaines, I was with you until that last quote. That’s going a bit too far. Using a guy like Larry Nassar — one of the most despicable human beings we’ve ever witnessed on this Earth who molested and abused numerous women, numerous gymnasts, including Biles… to go that low, Gaines, you lost all credibility.

Stephen A. Smith said

He felt Gaines delivered a low blow to the gymnast. Smith believes the former collegiate swimmer could have addressed the matter without bringing up Larry Nassar’s abuse to prove her point. He felt it was unnecessary to stoop that low.

Riley Gaines clarifies why she brought up Larry Nassar

Stephen A. Smith‘s words seemed to have reached Riley Gaines. On the latest episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, she appeared to talk in detail about why she chose to attack both the school league as well as Simone Biles. During this discussion, Smith asked Gaines if she had any regrets about bringing up Larry Nassar.

Simone Biles has apologized to Riley Gaines
Simone Biles has apologized to Riley Gaines (Image via Open Source/X)

I stand by what I said a hundred percent. But let me provide a little context. Does it get more perverted than standing in the shower, totally undressed, when a six-foot-four man approaches you, stands in the shower head next to you, undresses himself fully n*ked, and watches you shower?

Riley Gaines replied to Stephen A. Smith

She added that those experiences do count as s**ual abuse. Gaines was trying to make a point that trans athletes sharing washrooms with female athletes is similar to Larry Nassar’s abuse of Simone Biles and the other gymnasts at the time.

The 57-year-old analyst summarized that, going by that logic, the 25-year-old was not wrong. Gaines also revealed that Biles had apologized for her personal attacks. She accepted the apology from the gymnastics great and claimed that she was open for a collective discussion.

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