What happened between Simone Biles and Riley Gaines? Feud explored as Olympian shuts down X account 

A public exchange between Simone Biles and Riley Gaines appeared to escalate over the weekend, culminating in Biles’ X account disappearing from the platform. The Olympic gymnast, who had amassed 1.9 million followers, seemed to have deactivated her account on Sunday. Users attempting to access her profile were met with the message: “Something went wrong.”

As reported by The Daily Beast, Biles faced backlash online after voicing support for a transgender teen athlete. This move may have prompted her decision to step away from the platform.

Simone Biles, who claimed her first title in 2013, made history two years later by becoming the first female gymnast to win three back-to-back world all-around championships. She now boasts 11 Olympic medals, seven of which are gold. Riley Gaines, who swam for the University of Kentucky, has since become a vocal figure in conservative circles. She currently hosts Gaines for Girls, a podcast under the Outkick media umbrella.

Simone Biles takes on Riley Gaines in viral feud over trans teen athlete

What began as a single post quickly escalated into a wider exchange on social media storm when Simone Biles stepped in to challenge Riley Gaines earlier this month. Gaines, known for her outspoken views on transgender athletes, criticized a Minnesota high school softball team for including trans teen Marissa Rothenberger. After the school disabled comments on a post featuring Rothenberger, Gaines reacted online:

“To be expected when your star player is a boy.”

The remark didn’t go unnoticed. Biles responded in defense of Rothenberger, addressing Gaines’ remarks with a pointed statement:

“All of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser.”

The race in question occurred in 2022, when Gaines swam against trans athlete Lia Thomas — a moment that fueled much of her current activism. But Biles didn’t stop there. She called Gaines “truly sick” and followed up with a pointed message urging empathy and inclusion:

“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... But instead... You bully them... One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”

Her final post was equally direct:

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

Simone Biles deactivates X Account after apologizing to Riley Gaines

The fallout from Simone Biles’ social media clash with Riley Gaines intensified after days of harsh criticism and mounting support for Gaines. The gymnast then appeared to deactivate her X account.

After remaining silent for four days, Biles addressed the situation with a public apology:

“I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport,” she shared.

“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.” she added

Gaines accepted the apology but also noted what she viewed as a personal line being crossed:

“I accept Simone’s apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me. I know she knows what this feels like. She’s still the greatest female gymnast of all time. A couple of things. Sports ARE inclusive by nature. Anyone can and everyone SHOULD play…”

By Sunday, Biles’ X account had been removed. Gaines returned to the platform, offering a cutting response. She accused Biles of delivering “an incredibly unpopular and morally indefensible take,” which faced widespread criticism. She then claimed Biles followed it up with “a groveling public apology after unrelenting backlash.”

She added that Simone Biles had deleted her account “to pretend it never happened,” and concluded:

“Sad to see such a phenom go down like this.”