Former Olympian under fire after saying Team USA gymnasts lack "work ethic"
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MyKayla Skinner in the 2021 Olympic Games. Photo: Maja Hitij/Getty Images
Arizona Olympian MyKayla Skinner is in hot water after criticizing athlete safety oversight and saying 2024 Team USA gymnasts "don't have the work ethic" of past athletes.
Why it matters: Skinner's comments have renewed conversation about controversial past training practices and cast a dramatic cloud over what should be a celebratory time for the five gymnasts who made the U.S. Olympic team, which includes another Arizona athlete, Jade Carey.
The big picture: Skinner, a Gilbert, Arizona native who won the silver medal for vault in the 2021 games, said in a now-deleted YouTube video last week that besides 37-time Olympic and World medalist Simone Biles, this year's Olympic team lacks "talent" and "depth."
- She also said SafeSport, an organization that aims to prevent sexual, physical and emotional abuse against athletes, has made coaches "really careful what they say, which in some ways is really good, but … you do have to be a little aggressive, a little intense."
Driving the news: In response to public uproar, Skinner initially said her comments were misrepresented, but over the weekend she posted an apology on Instagram saying, "It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work."
- She also noted she was comparing the "Marta era" — a reference to former national team coordinator Márta Károlyi who's been accused of abusing athletes — to the "current era."
- "I am coming to terms that I have not fully dealt with the emotional and verbal abuse I endured under Marta that perhaps led to my hurtful comments," Skinner wrote.
Between the lines: Former gymnast Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of sexual assault, said on X that Skinner's call-back to Károlyi shows why "continued education is desperately needed."
- "When an athlete reminisces about one of the most abusive coaches in gymnastics history, suggesting her abusive model was necessary for work ethic, we have a problem," Denhollander wrote.
What they're saying: "Not everyone needs a mic and a platform," Biles posted on Threads following Skinner's video.