MyKayla Skinner Harmer is issuing a plea to Simone Biles.
Simone Biles’ amazing performance And the rest of Team USA Gymnastics has earned 7 Olympic medals. Three of them are gold medals.
However, just a few weeks earlier, Michaela Skinner Harmer, who technically She never made the Olympic team other than appearing as an alternate, and stirred controversy by attacking current gymnasts. Simone Biles responded by clapping too,
Now, Michaela is asking Simone to refrain from online criticism. Is she making this all about herself? And is it really Simone’s responsibility?
Do you remember MyKayla Skinner Harmer?
MyKayla was an alternate at the 2016 Olympics. That year, she became the center of controversy after her photo was edited onto a Team USA gymnast Gabby DouglasThe accompanying racist emoji didn’t help either.
Subsequently, he competed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (individual event) and won a silver medal in vault.
Many, except for die-hard gymnastics fans, forgot about Michaela Skinner Harmer until recently. In a now-deleted YouTube video, Michaela took aim at Team USA’s gymnasts.
Are Olympic athletes ‘lazy’?
MyKayla Skinner Harmer accused the Olympic gymnasts representing the United States at the 2024 Paris Games of being “lazy” and lacking athletic ability.
“I think the talent and the depth is not what it used to be,” she claimed. “Just to note, I mean, obviously a lot of the girls don’t work as hard. The girls don’t have the work ethic.” It seems that obviously false,
MyKayla also indicated that Safety Ruleswhich came into existence after The Many Crimes of Dr. Nassarwere somehow making the team even worse. It’s hard to understand why Michaela took these posts, or what she hoped to gain by sharing them.
Simone Biles took the high road
For her part, Simone Biles’ response was mild. For example, she did not name MyKayla Skinner Harmer.
Instead, he offered a humorous Instagram She also posted photos of herself and other Team USA gymnasts in the caption.
“Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” he said. Other Olympians, past and present (and especially McKayla Maroney)
Now, MyKayla Skinner Harmer is begging Simone Biles to tell her fans and followers to leave her alone
On Tuesday, August 6, MyKayla addressed Simone Biles directly on Instagram. Though the women have reunited at the Tokyo Games, one can assume they don’t have each other’s contact information.
MyKayla expressed sadness at what she calls a “wave of hateful comments,” including alleged “death threats.”
She pleaded: “Simone, I’m asking you directly and publicly to please stop this.”
MyKayla Skinner Harmer wants the backlash to end
“Please ask your followers not to do this, you have been an incredible champion for mental health awareness and so many people need your help now,” MyKayla Skinner Harmer pleaded.
He said of himself and his family: “We have been hurt and we have been attacked in a way that I’m sure you never intended.”
We are also sure that Simone Biles had no such intentions. Yet it seems that Michaela feels that Simone is somehow responsible for this.
He alleges that he has been threatened.
“To see people support bullying — which has led to threats of physical harm against me, my husband and our daughter — is disgusting,” said Mykayla Skinner Harmer. “So please, at this point, I’m just asking for this to stop for the sake of my family because enough is enough.”
She tried to walk back her earlier comments and stressed: “I know these women are incredible – the best of the best – and nearly all of them are former teammates of mine who I have had the great pleasure of cheering on over the last few years.”
He lamented, “If Simone truly believes that I called our team lazy and talentless, and if she truly feels that way, then I am deeply saddened by that.”
It’s unclear how this could be Simone’s fault
“But I am heartbroken not just because this is not how I feel or what I have said before, but because Simone’s latest post, and others since, have sparked another wave of hateful comments,” Michaela Skinner Harmer alleged.
“The hate includes death threats to me, my family and even my agent,” he added. “It’s not fair for my family and my friends to be caught in the crossfire here. They haven’t done anything.”
We certainly hope any threats of death or violence stop. While it’s hard to see this all as a case of Simone Biles being the one, let alone responsible, threats are not an appropriate response.
