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Former Olympic gymnast MyKayla Skinner has signed with an anti-transgender sportswear brand just months after criticizing ex-teammate Simone Biles' support for biological males in women's sports.
Skinner, who became embroiled in a furious spat with ex-teammate Biles last year, reignited her feud with the gymnastics icon in June after she lashed out at conservative activist and former swimmer Riley Gaines over her anti-trans stance.
After she labeled Gaines 'truly sick' and a 'bully' while claiming she has the appearance of a man - in a viral post on X that she later apologized for - Biles was hit with bullying accusations herself from her former Team USA colleague.
Skinner also leapt to the defense of Gaines, praising her for defending 'the future of female athletics' and insisting she 'deserves support - not ridicule.'
Four months on, she has now aligned herself with the mission to protect women's sports once more by signing with XX-XY Athletics - an athletic apparel company which supports the movement to stop trans athletes from competing against females.
'Finding my voice has been hard — there’s no training for that. But every female athlete should find and use hers. No one trains you for moral courage or unwavering positivity — that’s a different kind of journey,' Skinner told Fox News.
Ex-Olympic gymnast MyKayla Skinner has signed with an anti-transgender sportswear brand
Skinner recently reignited her feud with Simone Biles by criticizing her ex-teammate's stance on biological males competing in women's sports
'I’m going to share that too. Why? To use my platform to be a positive role model for female athletes. But really, this is for my daughter.'
Skinner is not alone in joining the brand, which was championed by brand ambassador Gaines upon launching in 2024, with three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Nancy Hogshead also signing up.
Hogshead, the founder of Champion Women and the Women's Sports Policy Working Group, has also authored a petition to protect women's sports, which has over 500 signatures.
The anti-trans move is the latest chapter of a whirlwind couple of years for Skinner, who was targeted by Biles and several other American gymnasts in 2024.
The fallout began when Skinner questioned the 'work ethic' of certain Team USA stars last year, which sparked an angry response from Biles.
'Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be,' she said in a now-deleted YouTube video. 'The girls just don't have the work ethic.'
Despite Skinner excluding her from that brutal assessment, Biles appeared to hit back at her on social media at the time. The seven-time gold medalist took a thinly-veiled swipe by writing on Threads: 'not everyone needs a mic and a platform'.
She and a number of other gymnasts, including Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, and Jade Carey, also blocked Skinner on social media after her comments.
Biles and Skinner - pictured heading to the Tokyo Olympics together in 2021 - fell out last year
Skinner sided with Riley Gaines after she was blasted by Biles over her stance on trans athletes
After the team claimed gold medals in the gymnastics teams final at last year's Paris Olympics, Biles aimed a sarcastic dig at her old teammate when she shared a photo of herself, Chiles, Carey, Lee and Hezly Rivera holding the American flag aloft with the caption: 'lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions'.
Skinner later backtracked by claiming her comments were simply taken out of context.
Yet following her cruel dig at Gaines, the Olympian took aim at Biles with her own bullying accusations over the summer.
'Throughout my own career, I endured being belittled, dismissed and ostracized behind the scenes by Simone,' she alleged in an interview with One America News.
'The pressure to stay silent was immense. I kept quiet out of respect - for the sport, for my teammates, and for the ideal of unity among athletes.
'But witnessing this kind of public shaming, especially from someone in a position of influence, makes that silence no longer acceptable.'
Skinner and Biles were teammates at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when they both picked up medals despite the latter withdrawing from several events with a case of the 'twisties' - a mental block that that sees a gymnast lose control of their body during a twisting skill in midair.
MyKayla picked up her silver in the vault event after Simone took a backseat, marking one of her greatest achievements as a gymnast after also winning four golds in the World Championships.
