Riley Gaines unearths old tweet from ‘truly sick bully’ Simone Biles that ‘undermines nonsensical’ trans feud

The feud between Riley Gaines and Simone Biles has escalated into a full-blown online war, with the former NCAA swimmer resurfacing an old social media post to call out the gymnastics legend.

Just two days after Biles, 28, unleashed a fiery attack on the conservative activist, Gaines fired back by digging through the Olympian’s social media history. The controversy began Friday night when Biles clapped back at Gaines for criticizing a Minnesota high school softball team that fielded a transgender player, comparing the swimmer’s appearance to that of a man.

The bitter exchange quickly spiraled into a social media storm. Gaines, who now hosts Gaines for Girls on OutKick, retaliated by unearthing a 2017 post from Biles that read:
“ahhhh good thing guys don’t compete against girls or he’d take all the gold medals!!”

Gaines reshared the post, writing: “Oop… don’t you hate it when your past self completely undermines your current nonsensical argument? How has 2025 Simone reconciled with the fact 2017 Simone was a ‘truly sick bully’ by her own standard?”

The 25-year-old has built a second career as a political commentator, earning praise from Donald Trump after competing against trans swimmer Lia Thomas in college. She was even welcomed to the White House earlier this year when Trump signed his “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports” executive order.

The Minnesota Spark

The latest spat ignited when Gaines retweeted a picture of Minnesota’s Champlin Park High School celebrating their state softball championship, won with transgender pitcher Marissa Rothenberger. Gaines commented:
“Comments off lol. To be expected when your star player is a boy.”

Biles was quick to respond with a scathing rebuke:
“You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community… Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!! But instead… you bully them. One thing’s for sure, no one in sports is safe with you around!”

She later added: “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”

Gaines Strikes Back

Gaines doubled down:
“It’s not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces. Men don’t belong in women’s sports and I say that with my full chest. Simone Biles being a male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams? Didn’t have that on my bingo card.”

She also hit back at Biles’ appearance jab:
“And the subtle hint at body-shaming? Plzzzz I’m 5’5.”

In a darker turn, Gaines referenced the horrific sexual abuse Biles endured at the hands of pedophile doctor Larry Nassar, contrasting Biles’ testimony with her current stance. She posted:
“All the horrific sexual abuse Simone Biles witnessed and spoke out against caused by one man, yet she believes women should be forced to strip naked in front of men to validate the man’s feelings. You know how many gold medals you’d have if your ‘inclusive’ dream came true? Zero.”

She later shared a clip of Biles testifying before Congress about Nassar alongside her retweeted post, captioning:
“Simone Biles when she had to endure a predatory man vs. Simone Biles when other girls have to endure predatory men.”

A Controversy That Won’t Die Down

Nassar, who was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing gymnasts under his care, left scars that Biles has spoken about openly. In 2019, she admitted the trauma drove her to suicidal thoughts.

Now, with Gaines dragging that painful past into a political feud, the clash between the two athletes has become one of the fiercest battles in the ongoing debate over transgender participation in women’s sports.

So far, Biles has stayed silent beyond her initial posts calling Gaines “sick.” But with Gaines continuing to escalate, the storm shows no signs of quieting down.