5 days ago
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Olympic gymnast and Silver medalist MyKayla Skinner is publicly endorsing a ban on transgender athletes at the Olympic Games.
This comes after reports indicated the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was about to institute a sweeping ban of male-born athletes from competing in women's sports.
No decisions have yet been made by the IOC, with a spokesperson saying, 'The working group is continuing its discussions on this topic... Further information will be provided in due course.'
Skinner, who won her Silver medal in the vault at the Tokyo Olympics, penned an op-ed for Fox News openly encouraging the IOC to adopt the move.
'I want to be a voice for elite female athletes — to share a message of strength, courage and hope for the next generation of girls and to speak up for their futures,' Skinner wrote in the piece.
'No one teaches you how to do this — to speak up, to tell the uncomfortable truth — but I’m learning. I’m grateful to use my platform for something that matters deeply: protecting women’s sports and being a positive role model for the next generation of girls.'
Former gymnast MyKayla Skinner is endorsing a proposed ban on transgender athletes from competing at the Olympic Games - which is reportedly being considered by the IOC
Skinner, a former teammate of Simone Biles', said the IOC shouldn't 'accept insanity'
She continued, 'The IOC’s recent announcement gives me hope that meaningful change is possible. Now, it’s on all of us — the silent majority of female athletes, Team USA, and those still training at the elite level — to speak up and demand that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) enforce policies that protect fairness and safety in every women’s sport.'
Skinner concluded, 'Athletes get hurt every day — but we should not accept insanity. When men compete in women’s categories, it’s unfair and unsafe, and everyone knows it.'
A ban on transgender athletes from competing in the Olympics is being pushed and supported by President Donald Trump - giving hope to anti-trans activists that the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles will be without such a controversy.
Skinner has become an athlete ambassador for XX-XY Athletics, one of the most prominent groups working to prevent trans women from competing in women's sports.
The former Olympic gymnast drew criticism from her former teammates - especially Simone Biles - for her negative assessment of a Team USA quartet which went on to win Gold in the team all-around.
Their feud during the Paris Games became a major talking point last year. Skinner, on a YouTube channel she set up to analyze the USA Gymnastics team, questioned how good Biles' teammates were, saying: 'Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be.'
The comments made their way back to the Olympian herself, who got fired up. After winning gold in women's gymnastics, Biles posted a celebratory picture on Instagram with the caption 'lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions', in reference to Skinner.
Skinner, who won silver in the vault in 2020, drew controversy for her commentary during Olympic trials before the Paris games in 2024 for saying the team lacked depth and talent
Team USA would go on to win gold in the team all-around, with Biles and the others not-so-subtly slamming Skinner on social media and in the press for her pointed comments
Skinner would then go on to accuse Biles of bullying behavior while they were teammates
Biles took other shots at Skinner during the Games. 'Not everyone needs a mic and a platform,' she wrote on threads.
Skinner then blocked Biles on Instagram and Biles responded by announcing it on X, with US teammate Jordan Chiles sharing a picture of Biles holding her phone showing what Skinner had done.
USA gymnastics royalty McKayla Maroney then got involved, calling out Skinner.
'It doesn't get more iconic than this,' Maroney wrote on Instagram in response to Biles' post about being blocked. '[Skinner] f'd around n found out fr. Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name.'
Chiles, as well as US teammate Suni Lee, and Jade Carey, also blocked Skinner on social media after her comments.
'We have a lot of love for her, but it’s frustrating to see her put us down because she knows, basically, about every single thing that we’ve all been through,' Lee told Glamour. 'It was more annoying because of all the things that I’ve been through.'
Skinner would then go on to publicly accuse Biles and her followers of bullying due to her reaction. In the following months, Skinner would then further accuse Biles of bullying behavior in the past.
