Athletes find motivation from all kinds of places. For Simone Biles, at least some of the bulletin-board material that inspired her in Tuesday’s women’s gymnastics team final came from a familiar face.
Skinner stirred up controversy after this year’s US Olympic trials when she posted a video to YouTube sharing her criticism of the team’s talent, depth and work ethic beyond Biles.
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be,” Skinner said.
The US Center for SafeSport is the organization tasked with preventing the sexual abuse of athletes, which has been a pervasive issue for USA Gymnastics for decades.
Skinner’s comments drew immediate backlash from the US gymnastics community, including from Biles, leading Skinner to release another video blaming viewers for having “misinterpreted or misunderstood exactly what I was meaning or had said”.
Whether Biles forgave her former teammate was unclear. But it was clear early Wednesday morning the five-time Olympic gold medalist certainly didn’t forget.