Olympic gymnast Simone Biles accused former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines of looking like a man, but that accusation that came despite her previous professed support for body positivity.
Biles blasted Gaines on Friday over her opposition to men playing in women’s sports, even accusing the former University of Kentucky swimmer of bullying self-described transgender athletes.
@Riley_Gaines_ You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender… https://t.co/pjpzuZ0AlO
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) June 6, 2025
But the gymnast oddly followed up that claim with some bullying of her own, telling Gaines to “bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”
bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male @Riley_Gaines_
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) June 6, 2025
After that snide remark, a previous video of Biles discussing how she was once bullied for her body — both for her short stature and, ironically, for looking too masculine and muscular — circulated on social media.
Biles said she has “learned to love my muscles a lot more than when I was younger,” noting that she “got made fun of for my arms a lot.”
She shared that she used to wear sweaters and jackets often to hide her toned build.
Simone Biles once took part in a body positivity campaign where she spoke positively about her muscles in an effort to inspire “younger girls to love their bodies.”
Yesterday, she said Riley Gaines looked like a man because Gaines opposes boys in girls sports.
What happened to… pic.twitter.com/YuHlWkhaHy
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 7, 2025
Did Biles go too far by insulting Gaines?
The athlete encouraged “younger girls to love their bodies as well.”
Biles then offered a strong word to “body-shamers.”
“I feel like if you love your body, then that’s all you can do,” she said. “So it doesn’t matter what anybody else says. So I think they have to learn to fall in love with themselves.”
She added, “You know, I think it’s out of jealousy sometimes.”
Collin Rugg, a commentator and journalist who reshared the old video, noted the contrast between that message and her more recent behavior toward Gaines.
“Yesterday, she said Riley Gaines looked like a man because Gaines opposes boys in girls sports,” Rugg said.
“What happened to this Simone Biles?”
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