This argument between Simone Biles and Riley Gaines started last week. Gaines responded to someone celebrating the championship win of a girls' softball team in Minnesota by pointing out that the team's star player is a boy.
Comments off lol
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 6, 2025
To be expected when your star player is a boy https://t.co/2qY2onUhNW
Gaines is correct about this. The star player on this winning team is the pitcher, a trans athlete who is 6 feet tall.
Marissa Rothenberger, a trans-identifying male athlete who was born Charlie Dean, pitched Champlin Park High School to a Class AAAA state championship on Friday. Rothenberger threw three complete games over the course of the tournament, allowing just two runs over 21 innings and garnering All-Tournament team honors.
Under current Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) policy, athletes are allowed to compete based on gender identity, regardless of biological sex.
A pitching coach with 17 years of experience had this to say.
"When you have the levers, and you're really tall, you can throw pretty hard," Reed told OutKick during the Minnesota state tournament. "Boys overall have a lot different muscle structure — more fast-twitch muscles — and there are some girls that have that, but in no way is that the same.
"They're always going to be stronger, faster. Bone structure and such. They will dominate."
Biles responded by calling Gaines "truly sick" and saying she was a "sore loser."
@Riley_Gaines_ 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… https://t.co/pjpzuZ0AlO
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) June 6, 2025
She then insinuated that Gaines had a masculine body.
bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male @Riley_Gaines_
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) June 6, 2025
She's really missing the point here as Stephen Miller pointed out.
This is the size of the male she was forced to compete against. pic.twitter.com/vyZiHTRz62
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) June 7, 2025
Gaines responded by pointing out she's only 5'5".
And the subtle hint at "body-shaming" ???? Plzzzz I'm 5'5" 😂😂😂😂
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 6, 2025
She even proved it with a tape measure.
My height has been settled@Wikipedia please advise https://t.co/Ptn35pyEvh pic.twitter.com/hUfzv10DKS
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 7, 2025
But Gaines is capable of a lot more than just making quick meme videos. She also released this solid 4-minute response taking down the arguments Biles is making. Also credit to Gaines for not doing the thing I really hate which is pretending someone isn't great at what they do because you disagree with their politics. Biles really is a historically great athlete, probably the best woman gymnast ever. And Gaines says as much which is right.
.@Riley_Gaines_ responds to @Simone_Biles pic.twitter.com/SmVX9oUsho
— OutKick (@Outkick) June 8, 2025
Credit to Gaines for not doing the thing I hate which is pretending someone isn't great at what they do because you disagree with their politics. I see this all the time when people attack celebrities over their opinions and it always bothers me. Biles is a historically great athlete, maybe the best woman gymnast ever. And Gaines says as much which is the right thing to do. The fact that she's wrong about this issue doesn't make her bad at her job, just bad at something that is not her job.
Gaines also highlighted this old tweet in which Biles said it was a good thing men weren't competing against women.
Oop don’t you hate it when your past self completely undermines your current nonsensical argument?
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 8, 2025
How has 2025 Simone reconciled with the fact 2017 Simone was a 'truly sick bully' by her own standard? https://t.co/aQjKuNSmMh
Biles has been getting some pushback on her comments on TikTok.
In case you were wondering, Simone Biles is still getting dragged on TikTok. I almost feel bad for her. pic.twitter.com/f3sSo7pBUv
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 10, 2025
She must have heard about it because today she apologized.
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…
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) June 10, 2025
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. Xoxo Simone
A little decency and humility goes a long way. Gaines accepted her apology for the personal comments while once again acknowledging she's a truly great athlete. But she also didn't back down on the larger issue.
I accept Simone's apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me. I know she knows what this feels like. She's still the greatest female gymnast of all time.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 10, 2025
A couple of things. Sports ARE inclusive by nature. Anyone can and everyone SHOULD play… https://t.co/V8YbMvs3xf
A couple of things. Sports ARE inclusive by nature. Anyone can and everyone SHOULD play sports. Competition, on the other hand and by definition, is exclusive. So the idea of "competitive equity" is nonsensical.
Secondly, the boys are publicly humiliating the girls. 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. I am not ashamed to be a voice for the voiceless.
Lastly, I agree with you that the blame is on the lawmakers and leaders at the top. Precisely why I'm suing the NCAA and support candidates who vow to stand with women. That's why I joined @realDonaldTrump at the signing of his Executive Order. I didn't see you there or championing this effort with your platform.
Women's sports can't be used as an excuse for girl's to center the feelings and validation of men and boys.
I welcome you to the fight to support fair sports and a future for female athletes. Little girls deserve the same shot to achieve that you had.
Well said. It would be great if Biles went beyond admitting she didn't really know what she was talking about and instead looked at this issue carefully and became a champion for women's sports. There's probably too much pressure on her not to speak up but you never know. Once you see the truth it's hard to unsee it.
