"Proved me wrong in the best possible way" - Piers Morgan reacts to Simone Biles winning her 8th Olympic medal and becoming the most decorated gymnast

By Adityan Pillai

Modified Aug 01, 2024 09:27 GMT

Piers Morgan reacted to Simone Biles winning her eighth Olympic medal in Paris. The American gymnast won the gold medal in the team event after a spectacular performance in the finals with an overall team score of 171.296 points.

Morgan had faced a backlash for his comments after Biles was named Athlete of the Year by Time in 2021.

He tweeted about the American gymnast's withdrawal from the Tokyo Olympics due to mental concerns and labeled her a 'quitter':

"Ridiculous. We should celebrate winning in sport - not quitting."

After Simone Biles won her eighth Olympic medal in Paris, Piers Morgan took to X and congratulated the American for her incredible achievement, admitting that he was harsh when he judged her for withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics and lauding her for proving him wrong with her performance.

"Congrats @Simone_Biles on becoming the most decorated American gymnast of all time. I was too harsh on you in 2021 when you quit the team finals. You’re a great champion, and have since proved me wrong in the best possible way - by letting your supreme talent do the talking. 👏," he wrote.

Biles had concluded her Tokyo Olympics campaign with a bronze and a silver medal. Since then, she had been in pursuit of improving her performance and working on her shortcomings.

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Simone Biles on winning the gold medal in Paris

Simone Biles put forward a dominating performance in the final of the women's gymnastics team event with a score of 14.66 in the floor exercise to win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

Olympic Games Paris 2024 - Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final - Source: Getty

She took to Instagram to share a glimpse of their victory celebration and took a subtle dig at MyKayla Skinner for her controversial comments on the women's gymnastics team.

"Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions ❤️🥇🇺🇸," she wrote in the caption.

Biles stood by her teammates after former Olympic silver medalist gymnast MyKayla Skinner claimed that all the American gymnasts who qualified for the Olympics except for Biles lacked a 'work ethic.' Her caption after the victory was widely discussed by fans on social media and they lauded Biles for standing by her team and encouraging the other gymnasts.

The most decorated gymnast is set to continue her Paris Olympics campaign in the finals of the individual events.