Suni Lee is the latest American gymnast to criticize MyKayla Skinner as Simone Biles feuds with their former Olympic teammate.
Biles and Lee led the U.S. to victory in the team final at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, with an impressive score of 171.296 to earn their first gold medal of the Games.
After the win, Biles couldn’t resist defending her teammate, taking aim at an old acquaintance in Skinner, who had recently caused a stir by questioning the “work ethic” and dedication of the current American team.
The eight-time Olympic medalist shared a photo of herself, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Jade Carey and Lee holding up an American flag with the caption: “lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions.”
And to show her support for Biles, Lee joined her fellow American star in mocking Skinner by writing in the comments: “put a finger down if Simone Biles just killed you,” accompanied by a hand emoji.
Suni Lee (left) is the latest American gymnast to criticize MyKayla Skinner amid the bitter feud between Simone Biles and their former Olympic teammate
Biles lashes out at Skinner (pictured) after the former gymnast recently questioned the USA’s ‘work ethic’
The 21-year-old appeared to be referring to a trend on TikTok where users put their finger down when a speaker makes a statement that applies to them.
Biles and Lee’s US teammate Jordan Chiles also wrote: ‘and he’s on his period too!!’
Skinner made her controversial comments earlier this month in a since-deleted YouTube video.
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and depth just isn’t what it used to be,” MyKayla, who won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, said in the video.
“The girls just don’t have the right work ethic.”
Despite Skinner excluding her from the brutal judging, Biles sparked a feud with her former gymnastics buddy by attacking her on social media.
The American Olympic legend took a thinly veiled swipe at her, writing on Threads: “Not everyone needs a microphone and a platform.”
Biles referenced Skinner’s controversial opinion after their Olympic teams’ victory on Tuesday
Lee supported her teammate in the comments section by suggesting she had “finally” made Skinner
Both Lee and Biles inspired the US to victory in the team final at the Paris Games this week
And following her criticism on Instagram this week, Chiles revealed that Biles has now been blocked from the social media platform by Skinner.
After Chiles posted a photo online showing Skinner’s blank Instagram page on a cell phone, he captioned it: “When she blocks Simone.”
Biles also hinted on X that she no longer has access to Skinner’s social media posts, writing, “Oops, I’ve been blocked.”
She’s not the only current and former member of Team USA to poke fun at Skinner after Tuesday’s gold-medal performance. American gymnastics queen McKayla Maroney has also been embroiled in the bitter feud.
“It doesn’t get more iconic than this,” Maroney wrote on Instagram in response to Biles’ post.[Skinner] did some digging around and found out.
Maroney then joked that he would have the same nickname as Skinner.
Biles and Skinner have known each other for a while and previously got along well
But the American legend suggested on Wednesday that she has been blocked by her ex-teammate
Biles’ current teammate Jordan Chiles shared a photo online showing Skinner’s empty IG page
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“I feel like I need to apologize to save my first name,” she wrote.
While they may not have been the best of friends, Biles and Skinner had known each other for quite some time and hit it off well after both representing the US at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning.
Seven years later, they both won Olympic medals in Tokyo, despite Biles having withdrawn from several events due to a case of “twisties” – a mental block in which a gymnast loses control of his body during an aerial spin.
Skinner took silver on the vault after Biles stepped back. It was one of her greatest achievements as a gymnast, after also winning gold four times at the world championships.