Feud Ignites Over Transgender Athletes in Women’s Sports

LOS ANGELES, CA — A social media feud erupted between Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and former swimmer Riley Gaines over the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports. The conflict began on Friday after Gaines criticized a Minnesota girls’ high school softball team for featuring a boy as their star player.

Gaines, who has been vocal about protecting women’s sports, called out the Minnesota State High School League after they announced Champlin Park as the 2025 AAAA Softball State Champion. She reposted a tweet commenting, “Comments off lol. To be expected when your star player is a boy.”

Biles responded sharply on social media, labeling Gaines as “truly sick” and a “sore loser” for her comments. “All of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser,” Biles wrote, suggesting that instead of criticizing, Gaines should uplift the transgender community.

Biles further criticized Gaines, implying that women should find ways to create an inclusive sporting environment instead of “bullying” transgender individuals. Her original tweet read, “You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive.”

The tension escalated when Gaines referenced the Larry Nassar abuse scandal while defending her position on protecting women’s sports. Biles’s response to Gaines’s critique was met with significant backlash from various figures in the sports community. Sage Steele, formerly of ESPN, expressed disappointment in Biles’s approach, stating, “Shocked and disappointed that you’d attack another woman who has done nothing but uplift other women.”

Several users on social media noted that Biles may not have achieved her success if she had to compete against male athletes. “This whole Riley Gaines vs Simone Biles feud not only exposed Simone as anti-woman but also her husband as a weak leader in their marriage,” wrote sports commentator Jon Root.

The ongoing discourse highlights the polarization surrounding the topic of transgender athletes in women’s sports, bringing attention to the differing viewpoints on inclusion and protection of women’s rights in athletics.