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Simone Biles<\/strong><\/a> will always have her teammates\u2019 backs. The Olympic gold medalist opened up about why it was necessary for her to stand up for the U.S. women\u2019s gymnastics team after former gymnast MyKayla Skinner<\/strong><\/a> made comments about today\u2019s gymnasts\u2019 work ethic<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important because you have to teach them to use their voices,\u201d Simone, 27, told People<\/em><\/a> in an interview published on Tuesday, August 6. \u201cAnd if not, you\u2019re a voice for the voiceless, which is OK.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued, \u201cI just felt like it was right in that moment to stand up for them, because they\u2019re so young and they haven\u2019t fully stood in their power yet. For somebody to stand up, I know it meant a lot for [my teammates].\u201d<\/p>\n On July 30, Simone and the rest of Team USA \u2014 Jordan Chiles<\/strong>, Suni Lee<\/strong>, Jade Carey<\/strong> and Hezly Rivera<\/strong> \u2014 won gold medals in the team all-around final at the 2024 Olympics. The Ohio-born artistic gymnast celebrated the achievement by taking to Instagram with photos of the team, which she captioned, \u201cLack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions.\u201d<\/p>\n This caption was seemingly a clapback<\/a> at former teammate MyKayla, 27, who said in a since-deleted YouTube video during the Olympic trials in June that, \u201cbesides Simone,\u201d the \u201ctalent and depth\u201d among gymnasts today was not \u201cwhat it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, obviously, a lot of girls don\u2019t work as hard. The girls just don\u2019t have the work ethic,\u201d MyKayla added before citing SafeSport, an organization dedicated to ending abuse in sports. \u201cCoaches can\u2019t get on athletes 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 \u2026 a little aggressive, a little intense.\u201d<\/p>\n Simone seemingly shared a response to the retired athlete\u2019s comments via Instagram Threads, writing on July 3, \u201cNot everyone needs a mic and a platform.\u201d MyKayla apologized for her video the next day, telling fans that her comments were \u201cmisunderstood\u201d and that she was \u201cproud\u201d of the current team.<\/p>\n After Simone posted her celebration photo with the pointed caption, Jordan, 23, revealed that MyKayla had blocked<\/a> the 11-time Olympic medalist. MyKayla finally addressed the post in a video on August 6, explaining that she has endured cyberbullying ever since.<\/p>\n \u201cI sincerely hoped that this topic wouldn\u2019t need to be revisited, but unfortunately, things have really gotten out of hand lately,\u201d MyKayla said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s one thing to disagree with me regarding something I have said or a point I was trying to make, but it\u2019s something else entirely when that turns into cyberbullying or even worse. Watching people cheer on the bullying \u2014 which has led to threats of physical harm to me, my husband and our daughter \u2014 is disgusting. So please at this point, I\u2019m just asking for it to stop for the sake of my family because enough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n MyKayla added that she was hurt by Simone\u2019s caption and directly asked her to help put an end to the cyberbullying.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Simone truly believes that I called our team lazy and lacking talent and if that\u2019s really how she feels, I am really heartbroken over it. But not just heartbroken because it isn\u2019t what I feel or even how I previously said, but because Simone\u2019s latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments, DMs, articles and emails,\u201d the mom of one said. \u201cHate that includes death threats to me, my family and even my agent. My family and my friends don\u2019t deserve to be caught in the crossfire here. They\u2019ve done nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n