Former college swimmer Riley Gaines on Tuesday accepted Simone Biles’ apology after the pair got into an online disagreement over transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.
Per The Independent, Gaines has been a staunch advocate for the introduction of policies to control the involvement of transgender women in competitive female sports. Gaines embarked on that campaign in 2022 after she and former University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas both finished fifth in a 200m freestyle race.
Transgender athletes being allowed to participate in competitive women’s sports has also been a hugely debated topic that has drawn divergent sentiments, and that was what sparked the initial online disagreement between Biles and 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, 28, wrote in her Tuesday post.
Biles also stated that the issues in question are “sensitive” as well as “complicated,” and she “truly” doesn’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,” she added.
“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.”
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The Olympic gold medalist’s statement on Tuesday came days after she called out Gaines, 25, when the former college swimmer responded to a post from a Minnesota high school softball team with a pitcher who is transgender.
“To be expected when your star player is a boy,” Gaines quoted on the post to highlight the comments being turned off.
But Biles took issue with her comments and also directly addressed her. “You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser,” Biles wrote. “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!! But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”
Biles in another post also wrote, “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”
Gaines also fired back. “This is actually so disappointing,” she told Biles in her response. “It’s not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces. 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.”
Despite their initial online spat, Gaines on Tuesday accepted Biles’ apology. “I accept Simone’s apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me. I know she knows what this feels like. She’s still the greatest female gymnast of all time,” she wrote on Biles’ post.
Elsewhere in her long post, Gaines said that “women’s sports can’t be used as an excuse for girls to center the feelings and validation of men and boys.” She added: “I welcome you to the fight to support fair sports and a future for female athletes. Little girls deserve the same shot to achieve that you had.”
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