Simone Biles Apologizes For 'Personal' Attack On Riley Gaines, Adjusts Stance On Trans Athletes
Four days after U.S. gymnast Simone Biles personally attacked Riley Gaines for standing up for fairness in women's sports, Biles issued an apology. The seven-time Olympic gold medalist also slightly adjusted her previous stance on transgender athletes in women's sports.
"I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport," Biles wrote on X.
"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," the post said.
Biles then seemed to adjust her earlier take on transgender athletes in women's sports.
"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," Biles wrote. "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."
Gaines Accepts Apology
Gaines followed shortly after with a post accepting Biles' apology.
"I accept Simone's apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me," Gaines wrote. "I know she knows what this feels like. She's still the greatest female gymnast of all time," Gaines responded.
READ: Riley Gains Accepts Simone Biles' Apology, Invites Her To Join Fight To Protect Women's Sports
Good for her for apologizing, particularly for the personal attack on Riley Gaines. On Friday, Biles tweeted at Gaines, saying that the former Kentucky swimmer is "truly sick" for trying to protect women's sports from the invasion of biological males. Biles then "body-shamed" Gaines and said, essentially, that Gaines looks like a man.
The post is admirable, whether it was written entirely by Biles or massaged by a PR team.
Olympic gymnast Simone Biles apologized for her "personal" attack on Riley Gaines and slightly changed her stance on transgender athletes in women's sports.
(Imagn Images)
Biles also brought up a very fair point that many of us at OutKick have said: it's not the fault of the kids who believe they are "transgender" for competing in girls' sports. They are children, many of them very confused and misled by the adults in their lives, and they are just following the rules that are in place.
Even though President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban males from women's sports, several states have elected to defy the order and kept rules in place that allow males to compete on sports teams that align with their "gender identity." While that's a reality and biology-denying position to take, it's incumbent on the policymakers to rectify their disastrous decisions and not up to the children to solve the problems.
Unfortunately, they've been put in a terrible position and Biles is right to point out that we adults should have empathy for their situations.
Biles is also right to point out that fairness is a cornerstone of athletic competition, something that she should understand as well as anyone. Fairness should not be sacrificed at the altar of "gender ideology." It's not fair for males to compete in girls' and women's sports. Period.