Decorated Olympian and gymnastics icon Simone Biles is in a fiery exchange with former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, as the ever-contentious debate over transgender inclusion in sports flares up once again.
Gaines recently criticized the Minnesota State High School League for disabling comments on a post celebrating Champlin Park’s girls’ basketball state title. The team includes a transgender athlete, and Gaines didn’t hold back.
“Comments off lol. To be expected when your star player is a boy,” she posted on X.
That set Biles off.
“You’re truly sick,” Biles responded. “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. But instead… You bully them… One thing’s for sure: no one in sports is safe with you around.”
Gaines hit back harder, labeling Biles a “male-apologist” and claiming her stance was “the least controversial on this planet.” She then escalated things by invoking Biles’ trauma as a survivor of serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar, suggesting Biles may not have won medals had trans athletes competed in her sport.
That’s where Stephen A. Smith stepped in.
“Respectfully, Gaines, I was with you until that last quote,” Smith said on The Stephen A. Smith Show. “That’s going a bit too far. Using a guy like Larry Nassar—one of the most despicable human beings we’ve ever witnessed on this earth—to make your point? You lost all credibility.”
He continued, “No matter what Simone Biles said to you, how she may disagree with your position, it did not warrant you to go that far.”
“What About Their Feelings?”: Simone Biles Trans Ahtlete Take Gets Slammed By Stephen A. Smith Using Real Women Athletes Feelings Towards The Issue
Though Smith defended Biles on the personal attack, he didn’t co-sign her take on trans inclusion.
“I respect your passion to look out for those you feel are being victimized,” Smith said. “But there are young ladies out there who were born women that feel this is a flagrantly unfair advantage. What about their feelings?”
The debate clearly isn’t slowing down. And with voices like Biles, Gaines, and Smith speaking out, it’s no longer just about sports—it’s about society at large.
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Yelle is a broadcast communications graduate from the University of Perpetual Help-Dalta and has pursued a career in television and news writing in Net 25 and Radyo Agila. Some of her works can also be seen through her previous publication in Fastbreak.com.ph.
