Originally appeared on E! Online
Olympian Suni Lee is responding to MyKayla Skinner’s criticism following the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Lee — who won two individual bronze medals and took home gold in the team all-around alongside Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Hezly Rivera — shared her thoughts on her former teammate’s since-deleted YouTube video criticizing the gymnasts for lacking “work ethic.”
“We have a lot of love for her,” Lee told Glamour in an interview published Oct. 3. “It’s frustrating to see her put us down because she knows, basically, about every single thing that we’ve all been through.”
And the 21-year-old — who battled two forms of kidney disease ahead of the 2024 Games that resulted in her body swelling and gaining 45 pounds “in a span of two weeks”— added, “It was more annoying because of all the things that I’ve been through.”
Back in July, Skinner said in a YouTube video that “the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be” and that “a lot of girls don’t work as hard” compared to her time competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Skinner also commented on what she sees as difficulties as a result of SafeSport, a nonprofit organization created in order to help end abuse in athletics.
“Coaches can’t get on athletes and they have to be really careful what they say,” she said. “Which, in some ways is really good, but at the same time, to get to where you need to be in gymnastics you do have to be, I feel like, a little aggressive and a little intense.”
During the Paris Games, Biles who seemed to clap back at Skinner by referring to her own team as “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions” in an Instagram post celebrating their gold medal win.
And for Biles, speaking up to defend yourself is a crucial lesson to pass on to fellow gymnasts.
“It’s important because you have to teach them to use their voices,” Biles told People in an article published Aug. 6. “And if not, you’re a voice for the voiceless, which is OK.”
Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles are taking the stage for the Gold Over America Tour. The Olympic gymnasts spoke to Access Hollywood’s Scott Evans at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles hours before the fourth stop on their post-Paris Olympics national tour and spilled lots of behind-the-scenes details on what it takes to make the high-energy performance come to life each night.
