Decorated Olympic gymnast Simone Biles is backing down from her seemingly unprompted fight with former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines, who has defended women’s sports against transgender-identifying males.
“I apologize,” Biles wrote in an X post published Tuesday afternoon, admitting the current system for women’s sports is “flawed.” Biles went on to claim the matter is “complicated” and noted she has no “answers or solutions” to rectify the issue of males competing in female sports.
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“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,” wrote Biles. “[I] was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports. 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.”
The Olympic gold medalist called on sports organizations to make changes, asserting they “have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition.”
The spat between the two athletes turned personal when, apparently out of the blue, Biles began bullying Gaines on X, calling the former University of Kentucky swimmer “truly sick,” a “sore loser,” and telling her to “bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”
“One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!” Biles wrote of Gaines.
Gaines, for her part, responded to Biles’ unkind posts, writing, “This is so disappointing. My take is the least controversial take on the planet,” adding she didn’t anticipate Biles serving as a “male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams.”
Biles’ mean-spirited comments came presumably in response to Gaines raising concerns about a high school girls’ softball team in Minnesota, where a transgender-identifying male pitcher pitched five straight games in which the player only gave up one run.
Gaines quickly responded Tuesday to Biles’ post, accepting the accomplished athlete’s apology.
“I accept Simone’s apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me,” wrote Gaines. “I know she knows what this feels like. She’s still the greatest female gymnast of all time.”
She still, though, made her case the issue is not as complex as Biles seemingly believes.
Gaines noted sports is, by nature, inclusive, because “anyone can and everyone SHOULD play sports.” But competition, she argued, “is exclusive,” calling Biles’ suggestion for “competitive equity” “nonsensical.”
“To suggest that women and girls must be silent or ignore a boy who is PUBLICLY hurting or humiliating them is wrong,” continued Gaines. “You can’t have any empathy and compassion for the girls if you’re ignoring when young men are harming or abusing them. I am not ashamed to be a voice for the voiceless.”
The swimmer-turned-activist did acknowledge she agrees with Biles’ suggestion that it is on leaders and lawmakers to make changes to the systems that exist currently, which is why, she wrote, she joined President Donald Trump in February, when he signed an executive order protecting women’s sports.
Trump’s order stated sex, for Title IX purposes, is defined by biological reality, not one’s gender identity. Additionally, it prohibits schools, universities, and K-12 programs receiving federal funds from allowing transgender-identified males from competing on female teams and accessing female locker rooms.
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