The place do you stand on the Simone Biles vs. Riley Gaines showdown? The Olympic gymnastics icon and the previous NCAA swimmer are locked in a heated back-and-forth after Gaines criticized the Minnesota State Excessive College League for eradicating her submit about Champlin Park Excessive College’s state title win, that includes a trans athlete. Biles clapped again, hitting a private be aware, and issues rapidly spiraled. Now, Chael Sonnen has jumped in together with his take, including gasoline to the hearth.
Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Simon Biles caught up within the centre of controversy when she clashed on-line with former NCAA swimming standout Riley Gaines over the transgender athlete debate in ladies’s sports activities. Gaines has been an enormous supporter of all women’ sports activities with out the inclusion of any trans athlete.
So, what was the spark for his or her back-and-forth? It began when Gaines took to her social media deal with to criticize the Minnesota State Excessive College League. Gaines’ feedback compelled the Minnesota State Excessive College to show off the feedback on the submit.
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Simone Biles wasn’t having it. She fired again with a scathing submit aimed instantly at Gaines, calling her stance “actually sick” and accusing her of harboring resentment over previous defeats. In response, Gaines hit again exhausting by reposting certainly one of Biles’ personal statements from 2017, the place Biles had additionally expressed help for the concept that women ought to compete in women’ sports activities.
“Oop don’t you hate it when your previous self utterly undermines your present nonsensical argument? How has 2025 Simone reconciled with the actual fact 2017 Simone was a ‘actually sick bully’ by her personal normal?” wrote Gaines on her X. Responding to the back-and-forth between these swimmers, Chael Sonnen reposted these phrases by Gaines and wrote, “Riley is on FIRE.”
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The fiery change immediately lit up social media, including one more layer to the polarizing debate that continues to divide the world of aggressive sports activities. As Sonnen voiced his stance on the matter, one other athlete got here ahead—this time, in help of Biles.
Male gymnast defends Simon Biles in opposition to Riley Gaines
Riley Gaines has been advocating for sports activities to be solely for women, with out the inclusion of transgender athletes. She parlayed a fifth-place tie with a transgender swimmer in school right into a profession centered on opposing the participation of trans ladies in ladies’s sports activities. Properly, amidst this debate between these two, one concept was that Biles would lose her premium swimmer tag if she competed in opposition to any male athlete.
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This comparability didn’t sit effectively with Sam Phillips, a gymnast on the College of Illinois, who’s brazenly homosexual. The athlete said that Biles would even dominate male gymnasts. “This entire battle between Riley and Simone is NULL & VOID as a result of the premise of the correct’s assault is that she would lose medals within the males’s gymnasium class when in actuality, she would truly STEAL GOLDS from LOTS of one of the best Male ground and vault employees. So their base is FLAWED.”
Properly, the back-and-forth between these swimming stars continues to be heating up, and we’d see extra help pouring in for both aspect.