Courtesy: @simonebiles on Instagram
Simone Biles seemed to respond to critics, including a former teammate, following her victory with the team gold medal in women’s gymnastics at the Paris Olympics.
Biles, along with Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Jade Carey, excelled in the competition, securing victory with a margin of almost five-and-a-half points over Italy.
After the victory, Biles shared a photo of the team on Instagram with a cutting caption.
The post read, “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.”
This seems to be a pointed jab at former Team USA gymnast MyKayla Skinner, who had criticized the team's composition before the games.
In a recently removed YouTube video, Skinner criticized Biles, Chiles, Lee, Carey, and Hezly Rivera for lacking the proper “work ethic”.
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be,” the 27-year-old remarked.
“The girls just don't have the work ethic,” Skinner added, before mentioning the US Center for SafeSport, a non-profit aimed at preventing sexual abuse of minors and athletes in US Olympic sports.
“And it's hard too because of SafeSport. Like, coaches can't get on athletes and they have to be really careful what they say.”