"Need to apologize just to redeem my first name" - McKayla Maroney reacts to Simone Biles taking subtle dig at MyKayla Skinner after gold medal win

By Janhavi Shinde

Modified Jul 31, 2024 11:43 GMT

McKayla Maroney responded to Simone Biles' recent comment that appeared to be a dig at MyKayla Skinner. Biles seemingly poked a taunt at Skinner for her scathing remarks about the 2024 Paris Olympics USA women's gymnastics team in the build-up to the Games.

The USA women's gymnastics team delivered a thrilling show during the 2024 Games women's team final, clinching the gold medal after collecting a whopping score of 171.296 points. Soon after their recent feat, Biles shared a winning moment picture on social media with a caption of her own.

"Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions ❤️🥇," she wrote.

The caption seemed to subtly mock Skinner, who, during the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, belittled the American team, stating that except for Biles, the team members lacked talent, depth, and 'work ethic'.

"Besides Simone, I feel like that the talent and the depth just isn't what it used to be. I just noticed, I mean obviously, a lot of girls don't work as hard and the girls just don't have the work ethic, she said.

McKayla Maroney, who secured a team gold medal at the 2012 London Games, praised Biles, stating she "f’d around n found out," resembling the 2024 USA women's gymnastics team's name "F Around and Find Out".

Further, the retired gymnast also said that she felt compelled to apologize for her first name, resembling closely to MyKayla's name, differing by only one letter.

"It doesn’t get more iconic than this," McKayla wrote. "She f’d around n found out fr. Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name."

Screenshot of Simone Biles' Instagram post.

"I started off with therapy this morning" - Simone Biles opens up about her routine that led to the team gold at the Paris Olympics

Simone Biles smiles during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final at the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, France on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Getty Images)

Following the team's recent victory at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Simone Biles opened up about her routine on that particular day. She competed on all four apparatuses and scored 14.900, 14.400, 14.366, and 14.666 points on vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise, respectively.

During an interview with Olympics.com, the legendary gymnast, who is often seen emphasizing the importance of mental health, stated that she took therapy and felt confident about the showdown.

“At the beginning of the day, I started off with therapy this morning. That was super exciting,” Biles said. “I told my therapist I was feeling calm and ready.”

Simone Biles has yet to compete in individual all-around, vault, balance beam and floor exercises at the Paris Olympics.