Famed gymnast Simone Biles sparked outrage last week by unexpectedly lashing out at Riley Gaines, the outspoken defender of women’s sports. Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who tied transgender athlete Will “Lia” Thomas in 2022 but was denied the trophy, has become a leading voice against the inclusion of biological males in female competitions. After Gaines criticized a Minnesota high school softball team for fielding a male pitcher who brought them to the state championships, Biles fired back on X, calling Gaines a “sore loser” and accusing her of bullying trans athletes.
@Riley_Gaines_ You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. 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… https://t.co/pjpzuZ0AlO
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) June 6, 2025
On Tuesday, Biles just tried to put a lid on her clash with Riley Gaines over the transgender debate by trotting out what looked like a lawyer-approved, PR-team-crafted non-apology apology. You know the type: polished, sterile, and designed to do just enough damage control without actually saying much. It reads less like remorse and more like reputation management.
“I wanted to follow up from my last tweets,” Biles wrote on X. “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.”
Related: Simone Biles Sides Against Female Athletes
“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,” Biles continued. “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. 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.”
It’s easy to see she’s trying to step back from supporting men in women’s sports without saying it. As we’ve reported here at PJ Media, polls show that the public overwhelmingly opposes males playing women’s sports, and no doubt Biles’s public relations team realized she was on the losing side of this issue and compelled her to stop the bleeding before things got worse.
It’s no coincidence that this faux apology came mere days after an old tweet of Biles’ resurfaced amid her dust-up with Gaines.
ahhhh good thing guys don’t compete against girls or he’d take all the gold medals !! 🥇 https://t.co/gto13RzC8Y
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) October 12, 2017
Funny how that works, isn’t it?
It was rather shocking that Biles, who endured abuse under USA Gymnastics and should understand the need to protect female athletes, would back policies that compromise women’s safety and fairness. For someone who benefited from competing in a women-only field, Biles’ position was a blatant betrayal and earned much scorn.
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