McKayla Maroney on the floor exercise during the women's P&G Gymnastics Championships. David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The real reason McKayla Maroney just hit back at MyKayla Skinner so hard she wanted to 'redeem' her 1st name

Originally posted on The Athlete Lifestyle on SI
By Jane LaCroix | Last updated Aug 1, 2024 3:36 PM ET

McKayla Maroney offered fans an explanation of her comment where she backed Simone Biles in what appears to be a response to MyKayla Skinner's previous comments about the US women’s gymnastics team’s work ethic.

Following the team’s gold medal victory at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, July 30, Maroney took to Biles’ Instagram post to add her own commentary.

In the caption of her celebratory post, Biles wrote, “Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” which many interpreted as a direct response to Skinner’s earlier remark that the team’s “depth isn’t what it used to be.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Simone Biles (@simonebiles)

The 28-year-old later explained her cheeky note, sharing a screenshot on her Instagram Story of the comments along with "commented this mostly bc i knew it would make simone do my favorite laugh/scream."

Earlier in the month, Skinner had stirred controversy by suggesting that the current team lacked the same level of “talent” as Olympic champion Biles in a now deleted YouTube video.

Despite her earlier controversial remarks, Skinner did show support for the team after their win. She posted a photo of the victorious US team on her Instagram Story, accompanied by three heart emojis.

oop I’ve been blocked
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) July 31, 2024

However, the drama didn’t end there. On Wednesday, uly 31, Biles shared a cryptic tweet, “oops I’ve been blocked,” leading fans to speculate that Skinner was the one who blocked her.

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This article first appeared on The Athlete Lifestyle on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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