They finally got their redemption. In more ways than one can imagine. After winning the team silver medal in Tokyo, Simone Biles led her squad to the top once again. On Tuesday’s team final in Paris, they won the gold! Post Atlanta 1996, London 2012, and Rio 2016, the country had to wait for the 2024 Paris Olympics to witness this.

And there was nothing stopping Biles from doing what she did next. Sweet redemption! The gymnast took to Instagram and wrote, “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions ❤️🥇🇺🇸,” along with a picture of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team. What’s so special about this? Well, it was a direct dig at MyKayla Skinner’s unflattering comments, which came before the 2024 Olympics.

“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be. I mean, obviously, a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” the 27-year-old had said in one of her now-deleted YouTube videos. Skinner’s comments sparked intense outrage among the gymnastics community.

Though she didn’t name Jordan Chiles and Suni Lee, she had also stated, “It’s just some of the other girls that fell twice, and still ending up in second place in the all-around is just kind of crazy to me.” Skinner was talking about day two of the Olympic trials, where Chiles fell once on the balance beam and Suni Lee fell almost twice. None of these comments well down well with the gymnasts or their fans.

Even before the Paris Olympics, Simone Biles was quick to back her team and took a subtle dig at Skinner. “Not everyone needs a mic and a platform,” she wrote on social media. But her latest post, after winning the gold, speaks volumes about her belief in her squad- Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera.

Simone Biles said what she said, and she meant what she said!

Yes, Skinner had apologized for her words back then, but it seems the damage was done. The athletes felt betrayed because Skinner had first-hand experience of the mental distress they faced under coaches such as Marta Karolyi. The after-effects robbed Team USA’s success in 2021.

The Tokyo Olympics vault silver medalist also witnessed Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles publicly speak about their battle with mental health. Lee opened up shortly after Simone Biles’ admission on the mental challenges every gymnast faces. She spoke about the grueling training and the immense pressure to perform. Similarly, Jordan Chiles even confessed to considering self-harm at one point due to the pressure.

Regardless of this controversy, the gymnasts proved their point on the biggest stage. Biles has created history with her eight Olympic medals- the highest among American gymnasts as well as redeemed her Tokyo loss.

Simone Biles took her squad on a ‘Redemption Tour’: Here’s why!

Tokyo Olympics is something Biles didn’t want to think about; Especially in Paris. Following her mental health struggles and twisties in 2021, she had pulled out. The backlash was huge, and many questioned her priorities.

But Biles walked into the Paris Olympics knowing the stakes were high. Four of the five members of this squad competed in Tokyo and they knew they had more to accomplish. Apart from Biles’s Tokyo debacle, even Suni Lee was disappointed by her lack of wins apart from her all-around gold medal. Similarly, Jordan Chiles had made several mistakes in Japan’s capital.

Though Jade Carey won gold on the floor, a stumble on the runway kept her away from a vault medal. No doubt, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team was out for revenge this Olympics!

“We had the most fun I’ve ever had at a meet … It’s super special because we all knew how much we wanted it. We put in the work and did everything that we needed to do,” Lee said after the US won the gold. Italy took silver and Brazil won the bronze medal.