Do not supply air to embers- that was Kathy Johnson Clarke’s heartfelt plea to the gymnastics community after MyKayla Skinner’s comments had taken it by surprise. The former Olympic medalist questioned each of the members’ (except Simone Biles) ‘work ethic’ who found their places in the US Olympic gymnastics team after the hefty trials schedule.

Skinner’s comment felt like a thrashing to certain gymnastic communities. However, Kathy Johnson Clarke put “Please don’t give oxygen to devisive  nonsense. It only gives it more fuel to burn out of control.” The time-tested statement felt to be the need of the hour as Owen Field, Florida Gators’ associate head coach, supported it on X. 

While backing Kathy, the veteran coach added, “The queen has spoken [emojis]”. Notably, Leanne Wong, the Gators’ teammate, has also been called into the US Olympic gymnastics team as an alternate in Paris. So, Owen Field’s comment may stand as the guard for Wong, who also faced MyKayla Skinner’s rage for the ‘work ethic’. Not just that, in her much-debated comment, MyKayla took a dig at the coaches as well. 

She blamed the happy-feel situation in gymnastics responsible for tormenting the work ethic among the sportspersons. “Coaches can’t get on the athletes and they have to be really careful what they say which in some ways, is really good, but at the same time, to get to where you need to be in gymnastics, you do have to be I feel like a little aggressive and a little intense,” is an excerpt from her comment that felt nothing less than a bomb in the sport. In Kathy’s argument, the entire fiasco MyKayla mentioned is part of a ‘stinky turd’. 

And all the individuals who have paid a heed to such a show of nothing, should ‘wash’ their memory ‘off’, as the former Olympic and world medalist argued. Eventually, Owen Field’s support of Kathy’s statement proves the unwillingness of the gymnastics community to go with MyKayla Skinner’s comment on the US Olympic gymnastics squad. But has the speaker herself felt that she is losing ground on the debate of saying who’s who? 

MyKayla Skinner holds her remark after facing backfire 

The expectation of a backfire seemed to be natural when MyKayla Skinner pointed fingers at the gymnasts who had earned their qualification after going through a grueling process named the US Olympic trials. On that note, Simone Biles, who had remained the top name on the qualified list, expressed her uneasiness first, after MyKayla’s video went viral. Once a teammate of the latter in the Rio Olympics, she penned, “Not everyone needs a mic and a platform”. Furthermore, the public outcry was all-around when MyKayla couldn’t pronounce Hezly Rivera’s name correctly in her much-criticized video. The sympathy remained toward Hezly as she entered the squad, being the youngest. 

Meanwhile, the reality is that MyKayla herself awarded Hezly with the 2018 US Classic Junior Medal in Utah. So the debacle reached another height. Realizing that, the former world champion decided to side herself from her previous comments. 

In a freshly-made video, MyKayla Skinner added that she didn’t mean to wrong the US Olympic gymnastics squad for the Paris Olympics. Rather, she proceeded with, “I was so pumped for the girls and it was so fun watching trials… I love those girls, and I’m seriously happy for them.” Are those lines enough to ash the fire?