Days after Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines exchanged barbs on social media, the gymnast issued a new statement addressing the comments she made against Gaines.
“I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. 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 said on a post on X.
As Newsweek has previously reported, the debate about transgender athletes in American sports escalated during the 2024 presidential election cycle.
President Donald Trump vowed to remove many transgender athletes’ from sports that didn’t match their biological sex, even making it the focus of one of his early executive orders.
Biles said the issues are surrounding this discussion “are sensitive, complicated issues,” adding, “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,” the athlete 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.”
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
