MyKayla Skinner APOLOGIZES To Olympics Gymnastics Team After ‘Hurtful Comments’
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00:00Mikayla Skinner is apologizing once again for her comments about the 2024 U.S. Women's
00:06Olympic Gymnastics Team.
00:09Although the Olympic medalist previously apologized for her controversial remarks, she further
00:14clarified them in a lengthy statement shared on Instagram on July 6th, writing in part
00:19quote
00:20I want to formally apologize to Team USA and to our gymnastics community for my comments
00:25during my recent YouTube episode of the Gymnastic Olympic Trials.
00:29It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their
00:34hard work.
00:35Your hard work and dedication has paid off and I congratulate each and every one of you.
00:40When reflecting on her comments, Mikayla said it made her think of her own experiences under
00:46Marta Caroli.
00:47Marta and her husband Bella Caroli coached the women's gymnastics team for 20 years.
00:52During their time, multiple athletes came forward to the AP claiming they'd endured
00:56various types of alleged abuse.
00:59Marta hasn't spoken out publicly about Mikayla's statement and Access Hollywood has reached
01:03out for comment.
01:05Quote
01:06Upon reflection, I was comparing the Marta era to the current era.
01:09I am coming to terms that I have not fully dealt with the emotional and verbal abuse
01:13I endured under Marta that perhaps led to my hurtful comments.
01:17I take full responsibility for what I said and I deeply apologize.
01:22Mikayla sparked controversy in a since-deleted YouTube video for saying quote
01:26Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and depth just isn't what it used to be.
01:30Adding in part quote
01:31The girls just don't have the work ethic and it's hard to because of SafeSport.
01:36Like coaches can't get on athletes and they have to be really careful what they say, which
01:40in some ways is really good but at the same time to get to where you need to be in gymnastics
01:45you have to be a little, I feel like, a little aggressive and a little intense.
01:50In the video, Mikayla referenced the US Center for SafeSport which is a non-profit organization
01:55that helps end abuse in athletics.
01:57Following the backlash, Mikayla apologized for the first time in a video posted on her
02:02Instagram story on July 3rd.
02:03I feel like a lot of you guys had misinterpreted or misunderstood exactly what I was meaning
02:09or had said.
02:10I mean a lot of the stuff that I was talking about wasn't always necessarily about the
02:16current team because I love and support all the girls that made it and I'm so proud of
02:20them.
02:21It was more about going back into my own gym, just the work ethic is different compared
02:25to when we were doing gymnastics in the MARTA era and I'm not sticking up for MARTA or saying
02:30what she did was good, I'm just saying it was different.
02:34So anyway, sorry for anything that got out of context or seemed hurtful, that is never
02:40my intentions and seriously throughout the video I was so pumped for the girls and it
02:44was so fun watching trials and doing a live with everybody.
02:48I love those girls and I'm seriously so happy for them so I would never do anything to make
02:53them feel otherwise.
02:55So sorry if that came out wrong, that was not my intentions at all.
02:59After Mikayla's remarks went viral online, Simone Biles seemingly weighed in on her comments.
03:04Although the 28-year-old didn't mention her by name, she wrote on threads last week quote,
03:10not everyone needs a mic and a platform.
03:14Mikayla traveled with Simone to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and won silver on vault.
03:20This time Simone is back for her third Olympics with Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Childs and
03:24Hesley Rivera.
03:26The team is already highly decorated.
03:28Simone has 7 Olympic medals, 4 gold and a bronze from the 2016 games where she won the
03:34team finals in women's all-around.
03:36She also got 2 medals at the 2020 Olympics.
03:39Suni, Jordan and Jade are now two-time Olympians after competing in the 2020 Olympic Games
03:45where Suni won gold in the women's all-around, bronze and beam and silver in the team finals
03:50along with Jordan.
03:52Jade also won gold in the floor exercise.
03:55You can watch Team USA compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics starting July 26th on NBC and
04:02Peacock.