Olympic gymnastics legend Simone Biles has apparently deleted her X (formerly Twitter) account after facing intense public backlash for attacking women’s rights advocate Riley Gaines and appearing to defend the inclusion of biological males in female sports.
A search for Biles’ handle, @Simone_Biles, now yields the message: “This account doesn’t exist.” The deletion follows a heated exchange in which Biles mocked Gaines for her advocacy against male participation in women’s athletic competitions.
The controversy began when Biles, responding to Gaines’ long-standing criticism of male athletes competing in female categories, accused the former NCAA swimmer of being a “sore loser.”
“You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race,” Biles wrote. “Straight up sore loser.”
In a now-deleted post, Biles also mocked Gaines’ physical appearance, telling her to “bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”
The criticism stemmed from Gaines’ widely publicized tie with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas during an NCAA event, after which Thomas, a biological male, was selected for post-race media coverage while Gaines was sidelined. The incident became a turning point in the national debate over gender and fairness in women’s sports, with Gaines emerging as a prominent advocate for preserving sex-based categories.
Biles’ comments were met with fierce condemnation online, with critics accusing her of body-shaming, misogyny, and betrayal of the very female athletes she once inspired.
Under mounting pressure, Biles issued a public apology. Gaines, for her part, accepted the apology.
“I accept Simone’s apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me,” Gaines wrote. “I know she knows what this feels like. She’s still the greatest female gymnast of all time.”
Despite the apology, the damage appeared to be done. Users on X continued to flood the timeline with criticism and disappointment. Biles’ decision to delete her account is being seen by many as an attempt to distance herself from the controversy.
On Monday, Gaines weighed in on Biles’ social media exit: “Simone Biles had an incredibly unpopular and morally indefensible take,” she posted. “She got rightfully ridiculed for it, issued a groveling public apology after unrelenting backlash, then deleted her account to pretend it never happened. Sad to see such a phenom go down like this.”
The incident highlights the debate \that continues to divide not only fans and policymakers but also elite athletes themselves.
While Biles is widely recognized as one of the greatest gymnasts in history, her foray into this politically and culturally charged issue has prompted broader questions about the role public figures play in shaping discourse—and the consequences when their comments collide with public sentiment.
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