“You can uplift men stealing championships in women’s sports with YOUR platform,” Gaines told Biles. “Men don’t belong in women’s sports and I say that with my full chest.”
Four days later, Biles posted an apology to Gaines. In her apology, Biles said she values “competitive equity & inclusivity.”
“The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles,” she said, “which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for.”
Biles also said she values “empathy and respect,” and “these are sensitive, complicated issues.”
“I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports,” said Biles, adding that her “objection [was] to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful.”
Gaines accepted Biles’ apology. However, she critiqued Biles’ notion of “competitive equity” in sports, disagreed that Biles can show empathy if the gymnast is fine with boys humiliating girls, and challenged Biles to use her platform to support women’s sports.
Carpenter sees Biles, one of the greatest female athletes of all time, as “backstabbing” Gaines.
“I definitely don’t look up to her in the same way I did,” Eischen said of Biles, citing Biles’ “petty body shaming of Riley Gaines—that was such a low blow.”
Carpenter said that one good outcome of Biles’ negativity was that it drew attention to the issue. “You know, if you don’t have kids that are actively in sports, especially daughters, I think a lot of people don’t pay as much attention to this issue,” said Carpenter. “And I think that the whole Simone Biles and Riley Gaines, without all that fallout, that definitely brought some more attention.”
“Because this huge name, Simone Biles, everyone knows who that is,” Carpenter said. “You know, so many people respect her…as bad as it is that [Biles] said that, it kept it in the news cycle.”
Carpenter said Gaines was one of the first people to encourage her to file the lawsuit, and both Carpenter and Eischen said that they are filing the suit to benefit others, not because they expect to right the wrongs done to them.
“Nothing’s gonna change while I’m in high school,” said Carpenter, “but if we can look towards the future and try to change things now, I think I’ll be really grateful in the long run.”
“Riley was huge in my understanding of, you know, what does this next step look [like] for me and my family, as we take a stand, and what that means for me is, proceeding forward,” said Eischen.
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