MyKayla Skinner calls on Simone Biles to 'put a stop' to cyberbullying after viral Olympic post

American Olympic gymnast MyKayla Skinner is speaking retired astir her erstwhile teammate Simone Biles' seemingly pointed tweet pursuing Team USA's Paris Olympics golden medal triumph successful women's gymnastics.

Skinner, who competed alongside Biles connected the 2020 U.S. women's Olympics gymnastics team, said successful a caller video posted to her Instagram relationship Tuesday that she experienced cyberbullying, including threats of "physical harm" to her family, aft Biles posted a bid of photos of the 2024 U.S. women's gymnastics squad connected Instagram pursuing their golden medal triumph with the caption, "lack of talent, lazy, athletics champions."

Simone Biles poses for pictures with teammate MyKayla Skinner, aft an creator gymnastics signifier league astatine the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 22, 2021, successful Tokyo, Japan.

AP Photo/Gregory Bull

Skinner, the ma of a 10-month-old daughter, said successful the video, "To Simone, I americium asking you straight and publically to delight enactment a halt to this. Please inquire your followers to stop."

"You person been an unthinkable champion for intelligence wellness awareness, and batch of radical request your assistance now. We've been wounded and attacked successful ways that I americium definite you ne'er intended," she continued, explaining that her friends and household person "been caught successful the crossfire."

SEE ALSO: Simone Biles finishes disconnected Olympic instrumentality with a metallic connected level exercise, Jordan Chiles takes bronze

"Your performance, your team's show and the Olympics, successful general, should beryllium a clip that we enactment 1 different and assistance each different and our state up," she added. "I emotion our country, and I emotion our team, and I anticipation that we tin determination connected and determination guardant and cheer connected the remainder of our teammates and our athletes together."

The back-and-forth betwixt Skinner and Biles, present the astir decorated American gymnast successful Olympic history, started successful June aft Skinner said immoderate gymnasts -- which galore took to mean members of the 2024 squad -- lacked "work ethic."

"Besides Simone, I consciousness similar the endowment and the extent conscionable isn't similar what it utilized to be," Skinner said successful part, successful a since-deleted YouTube video posted during the Olympic trials successful June. "Just announcement like, I mean, evidently a batch of girls don't enactment arsenic hard. The girls conscionable don't person the enactment ethic."

After her comments received backlash, Skinner claimed successful a video posted to her Instagram communicative connected July 3 that her archetypal comments had been "misinterpreted" oregon "misunderstood," adding that they "(weren't) needfully astir the existent team."

SEE ALSO: Simone Biles captures her 7th Olympic golden medal by winning women's vault for a 2nd time

Skinner, who retired from gymnastics pursuing the 2020 Olympics, aboriginal posted a ceremonial apology connected societal media connected July 6.

"I privation to formally apologize to Team USA and to our gymnastic assemblage for my comments during my caller YouTube episodes of the gymnastics Olympic trials," Skinner wrote, successful part. "It was not my volition to offend oregon disrespect immoderate of the athletes oregon to instrumentality distant from their hard work. Your hard enactment and dedication has paid disconnected and I congratulate each and each 1 of you."

The nationalist contention astir Skinner's comments seemingly erupted again with Biles' July 31 station connected Instagram, which galore radical interpreted arsenic a pointed effect to Skinner's earlier remarks.

The U.S. women's gymnastics squad -- composed of Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Hezly Rivera and Jade Carey, successful summation to Biles -- took location the golden medal successful the women's squad contention successful Paris.

In her newly-posted Instagram video, Skinner said she sent idiosyncratic apologies to the women connected the Paris Olympic squad pursuing her remarks, for which she said she takes "100% responsibility."

SEE ALSO: Simone Biles and Team USA wins squad golden medal, bouncing backmost from Tokyo disappointment

"To beryllium wholly clear, I instrumentality 100% work for poorly articulating the constituent I was trying to make, and the past happening I wanted was to origin harm oregon offend our U.S. Olympic team," Skinner said Tuesday. "I cognize these women are incredible, the precise champion of the best, and astir each of them are my erstwhile teammates who I person enjoyed precise overmuch cheering connected the past fewer years."

Skinner besides said she feels "heartbroken" astir what has transpired.

"If Simone genuinely believes that I called our squad lazy and lacking talent, and if that's truly however she feels, I americium truly heartbroken implicit it," Skinner said. "But not conscionable heartbroken due to the fact that it isn't however I consciousness oregon adjacent what I antecedently said, but heartbroken due to the fact that Simone's latest station and others that followed it fueled different question of hateful comments, DMs, articles and emails."

Skinner said she would beryllium taking a interruption from societal media and called connected radical to halt what she described arsenic cyberbullying, saying, "At this point, I americium conscionable asking for it to conscionable stop, for the involvement of my family, due to the fact that capable is enough."

Biles, who took location 4 medals successful Paris, has not yet publically responded to Skinner's video.

USA Gymnastics did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.