Riley Gaines, a former NCAA All-American swimmer, recently shared her emotional response to the social media attack she received from Simone Biles, the celebrated Olympic gold medalist and one of the most iconic gymnasts in the history of sports. In a new episode of her podcast, "Gaines for Girls," which aired on OutKick, Gaines reflected on Biles' tweets that criticized her views regarding transgender athletes competing in women's sports.

Gaines recorded the podcast shortly after Biles publicly called her a "bully" on X (formerly known as Twitter) and accused her of creating an unsafe environment in sports. Despite the personal attack, Gaines praised Biles, emphasizing her status as an extraordinary athlete who has made substantial contributions to gymnastics. However, she expressed deep disappointment in Biles’ tweets, which she believes could undermine the gymnast's legacy.

“In just two tweets, Simone Biles basically tarnished her reputation to anyone with a shred of honesty, to anyone with a moral compass and to anyone with an inherent innate desire to protect women, to fight for equal opportunity for both men and women especially as it pertains to sports,” Gaines articulated during her podcast episode. “The conclusion I’m drawing based on the response we have seen over the past 12-ish hours at this point on social media, she’s basically incinerated her legacy in just two tweets.”

The conflict arose after Gaines commented on a recent news story about a transgender athlete winning a state championship in Minnesota's girls' softball. Biles, responding to Gaines' views, accused her of bullying and insinuated that Gaines poses a threat to the safety of others in the sports community.

Gaines speculated that Biles’ tweets might signal her retirement from competitive gymnastics, similar to the path taken by Megan Rapinoe, another prominent athlete who publicly supported transgender inclusion in women’s sports before her retirement. “What she’s done here is pull up the ladder behind her,” Gaines stated, referring to Biles' apparent shift in her stance on this controversial issue. “We’ve seen people like Megan Rapinoe do this. Simone Biles is just the latest where apparently she’s done competing. Just like Megan Rapinoe did – waited until they were done competing to take a stance on this issue, which for the life of me I cannot understand.”

Gaines was adamant that her concern is not about personal attacks but about the larger implications of Biles’ advocacy for transgender inclusion in women’s sports. She questioned the rationale behind Biles' support in light of her own success in gymnastics, arguing that Biles' achievements are rooted in the women’s category that she now seems willing to jeopardize. “Take me out of the equation. Again, I don’t care about the personal attacks. I cannot for the life of me understand why Simone Biles, in the year 2025, would advocate for this.”

Biles, for her part, has expressed a willingness to engage in discussions on the topic of transgender athletes in competitive sports, indicating that she believes there should be an open dialogue regarding the issue. Gaines, who has made headlines for championing fairness in women’s sports since her tie with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2022 NCAA Championships, has been vocal in her concerns about the impact of such policies on female athletes.

“I think she blindly advocated for this without actually thinking about the effects of what this would look like,” Gaines remarked during the podcast. “How no one would know Simone Biles if it weren’t for women’s gymnastics. … If her inclusive dream was a reality, she would have zero gold medals.”