Gymnast MyKayla Skinner apologizes for critical Olympic team comments – NBC Boston

Initially appeared on E! On-line

MyKayla Skinner is addressing backlash over her feedback about Crew USA.

After sparking controversy with a since-deleted YouTube video, the retired Olympic gymnast issued an apology.

“I really feel like a whole lot of you guys had misinterpreted or misunderstood precisely what I used to be that means or had mentioned,” Skinner shared in a July 3 Instagram Story video. “Loads of the stuff that I used to be speaking about wasn’t at all times essentially in regards to the present crew, as a result of I like and assist all the women that made it and I am so happy with them.”

“It was extra about going again into my very own health club,” the 27-year-old continued, including that the “work ethic is completely different” in comparison with when “we had been doing gymnastics” with former nationwide crew coordinator Márta Károlyi. “And I am not sticking up for Márta or saying what she did was good, I am simply saying it was completely different.”

Skinner went on to notice it wasn’t her intention to harm anybody’s emotions along with her feedback.

“Sorry for something that obtained out of context or appeared hurtful,” the athlete added. “All through the video, I used to be so pumped for the women and it was so enjoyable watching trials and doing a stay with all people.”

“I like these ladies and I am critically so blissful for them,” Skinner mentioned. “I might by no means do something to make them really feel in any other case. So, sorry if that got here out flawed, that was not my intentions in any respect.”

In her YouTube video, Skinner — who stepped in for Simone Biles on the Tokyo Olympics, profitable a silver medal on vault — shared her ideas on the brand new period of gymnasts.

“Apart from Simone, I really feel just like the expertise and the depth simply is not like what it was once,” she mentioned. “Simply discover like, I imply, clearly a whole lot of ladies do not work as arduous.”

“The women simply do not have the work ethic,” Skinner added. “And it is arduous too due to SafeSport. Like, coaches cannot get on athletes they usually should be actually cautious what they are saying. Which, in some methods is absolutely good, however on the identical time, to get to the place that you must be in gymnastics you do should be, I really feel like, a little bit aggressive and a little bit intense.”

Skinner’s feedback had been shortly met with backlash on social media.

In truth, on July 3, Biles seemingly weighed in on the controversy, posting on Threads, “not everybody wants a mic and a platform.”