Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles apologized for getting personal in an online clash with right-wing activist Riley Gaines and further clarified her statements on transgender athletes.
Biles’ apology comes after Gaines, a 25-year-old former swimmer, targeted a high school softball player who is trans in Minnesota on X. Biles called out Gaines for bullying while attempting to defend the athlete.
“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 wrote on Tuesday. “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. 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,” Biles continued. “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. Xoxo Simone.”
On Friday, Gaines pointed out that the comments on a post celebrating a high school softball team had been turned off.
“To be expected when your star player is a boy,” she wrote.
Biles stepped in in defense of the teenage trans athlete with multiple tweets.
“bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male,” Biles wrote.
In a separate post, Biles referred to Gaines as “truly sick” and a “sore loser,” referencing a 200-yard swimming freestyle race in 2022 in which Gaines tied for fifth place with Lia Thomas, an athlete who is trans. The race skyrocketed Gaines to popularity among many right-wingers.
“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,” Biles added. “But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”
Gaines said she was disappointed by Biles’ comments and doubled down on her anti-trans stance.
“It’s not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces,” Gaines wrote. “You can uplift men stealing championships in women’s sports with YOUR platform. Men don’t belong in women’s sports and I say that with my full chest.”
On Tuesday, Gaines accepted Biles’ apology in a lengthy post on X.
“Sports ARE inclusive by nature. Anyone can and everyone SHOULD play sports. Competition, on the other hand and by definition, is exclusive. So the idea of ‘competitive equity’ is nonsensical,” Gaines said.
She also baselessly claimed that trans athletes are harming or abusing girls.
“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,” Gaines wrote before proudly proclaiming her support for President Donald Trump and pointing out her lawsuit with several other athletes against the NCAA.
Gaines did not address singling out the trans high school softball player.
Despite NCAA President Charlie Baker claiming in testimony in front of a Senate panel in December 2024 that he is aware of fewer than 10 college-aged trans student athletes in the U.S., conservatives have hyper-fixated on trans athletes as some sort of detriment to women’s rights and sports teams.
In February, Trump signed an executive order prohibiting “male competitive participation in women’s sports.” The order establishes the right to “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.”
California and a winning high school trans athlete in the state have recently drawn the ire of Trump, who has threatened to withhold funding based on his executive order.
