(NEXSTAR) — Simone Biles appears to be sending a message straight to a former teammate about the ladies she won gold with during Tuesday’s women’s gymnastics team competition in Paris.
In a Tuesday night Instagram post, Biles shared a picture of her and her teammates celebrating their win with the caption, “lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions.”
So what exactly does that mean? It seems to be a callback to comments made by 2020 silver medalist MyKayla Skinner following the gymnastics trials. In a video that’s since been deleted from YouTube, Skinner targeted Biles’ newest teammates.
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be,” she said. “Just notice like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don’t work as hard.”
“The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” Skinner continued.
Biles took notice and defended her squad in a July 3rd post on Threads, writing, “Not everyone needs a mic and a platform.”
Skinner followed that up with multiple apologies, including a long post on July 6 that read in part, “It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work. Your hard work and dedication has paid off, and I congratulate each and every one of you.”
Another McKayla who knows a thing or two about gymnastics, 2012 gold medalist McKayla Maroney, has come to the defense of Biles and her teammates since those initial comments were made. She has the most-liked response to Biles’ most recent “shade” Instagram post, saying, “It doesn’t get more iconic than this. Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name.”
Biles followed up her post trolling Skinner with a little more positivity, noting she, along with Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera, will be known as the “golden girls.”