Simone Biles issues first statement after slamming Riley Gaines for her comments on trans athletes

Gymnast Simone Biles took to social media to post a statement to clarify her position with regard to the inclusion of trans athletes in professional competitive sports. The statement comes in the wake of her heated exchanges with Riley Gaines on social media.

In her post, Biles apologized to Gaines, stating that her previous statements in response to the former swimmer’s comments on trans athletes should not have gotten ‘personal.’ Taking to her social media handle on X, Biles wrote,

“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."

Biles went on to add,

"These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don’t have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect. I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports.”

While apologizing to Gaines, Biles still emphasized why she found Gaines’ comments problematic. Simone Biles’ statement also made note of the Olympic gold medalist’s opinions on inclusion:

“My objection is to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful. Individual athletes—especially kids—should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over. I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful.”

Simone Biles and Riley Gaines’ feud, explained

On Friday, June 6, Riley Gains referred to a transgender athlete on a Minnesota high school softball team as a “boy.”

Gaines, in her post, which has become the subject of criticism online, also took to call out the high school softball team for disabling comments on their social media handle. Gaines took to her social media to point out that the high school softball team had disabled the comments as their women’s team included a “boy.” Gaines’ post was read as an attempt to shame the inclusion of transgender athletes and attracted a lot of criticism.

It was in response to this post by Gaines that Simone Biles took to X to criticize Gaines’ position. Simone Biles’s response to Gaines, which was issued promptly after she made her controversial comments, read,

“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!!!!!”

Biles, who seemed to be perturbed by Gaines’ singling out of a high school student, addressed her and added,

“bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male”

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After the heated exchange between the two athletes on social media on June 6, the tensions between them seemed to cool off.

This was followed by Biles’ statement which later clarified her position, and in which she issued an apology to Gaines. Gaines later accepted Biles’s apology. In her post, Gaines accepted Biles’ apology, she went on to call Simone Biles “the greatest female Gymnast of all time.”

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