Famed gymnast Simone Biles apologized to former college swimmer Riley Gaines after she viciously attacked Gaines on social media for criticizing Minnesota’s policy of allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
The two had a spat over a girls’ softball team that won its first-ever state championship in large part because they had a six-foot male pitcher on their team. The Champlin Park High School pitcher, a “trans” girl going by the name Marissa Rothenberger, “pitched all 21 innings across three games, giving up just two runs total and leading the Rebels to three-straight wins,” reported OutKick.
Having a boy on their team not only gave Champlin Park a significant edge over its rivals — Rothenberger also hit two doubles — but also denied other Champlin Park players opportunities. “Champlin Park’s other pitcher, Ava Abrahamson, was listed as a designated player throughout the tournament but never entered as a pitcher,” noted OutKick.
Getting Biles’ GOAT
On June 6, Gaines issued a series of X posts on the Champlin Park victory. Two referred to Rothenberger by name. Both criticized Democrats for supporting the Minnesota State High School League’s (MSHSL) policy of allowing athletes to play on teams corresponding to their “gender identity.” On the third, a reposted MSHSL post congratulating Champlin Park, Gaines remarked: “To be expected when your star player is a boy.”
Biles, however, ignored the point of the posts and zeroed in on Gaines’ name-checking Rothenberger, writing:
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 category IN ALL sports!!
But instead… You bully them…
One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!
“This is actually so disappointing,” Gaines responded. “It’s not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces.”
“Men don’t belong in women’s sports and I say that with my full chest,” she added.
A perturbed Biles replied, “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”
Gaines appeared not to be offended by Biles’ jab, noting that she (Gaines) is only five feet, five inches tall.
Abashed by the Past
The feud might have continued had someone not uncovered an inconvenient 2017 Biles post. Commenting on a winning male gymnast at that year’s World Artistic Gymnastic Championships, Biles quipped, “Good thing guys don’t compete against girls or he’d take all the gold medals!!”
To which Gaines, reposting it Sunday, had this to say:
Oop don’t you hate it when your past self completely undermines your current nonsensical argument?
How has 2025 Simone reconciled with the fact 2017 Simone was a “truly sick bully” by her own standard?
Two days later, Biles ended the quarrel with this:
I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for. These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don’t have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect. I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports. My objection is to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful. Individual athletes — especially kids — should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over. I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful.
If the gymnast had explained her disagreement with Gaines that way to begin with, the two of them might have engaged in a fruitful dialogue about whether Gaines’ Rothenberger comments went too far. Instead, she chose to spew bile all over the internet, winding up with an omelet on her kisser.
Riley Gains an Ally?
Gaines’ response was gracious.
“I accept Simone’s apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me,” she wrote. “I know she knows what this feels like. She’s still the greatest female gymnast of all time.”
She then went on to make her case. “Sports ARE inclusive in nature,” she contended. “Competition, on the other hand and by definition, is exclusive. So the idea of ‘competitive equity’ is nonsensical.”
Furthermore, she penned:
To suggest that women and girls must be silent or ignore a boy who is PUBLICLY hurting or humiliating them is wrong. You can’t have any empathy and compassion for the girls if you’re ignoring when young men are harming or abusing them.
Gaines added that she “agree[s] with [Biles] that the blame is on the lawmakers and leaders at the top.”
“I welcome you to the fight to support fair sports and a future for female athletes,” she concluded. “Little girls deserve the same shot to achieve that you had.”
Biles may have patched things up with Gaines, but good luck patching things up with her woke “friends.” They must now be outraged that she has — at least publicly — turned out to be a reasonable person.
