Suni Lee Calls Out MyKayla Skinner’s Criticism of Her and the U.S. Gymnastics Team: 'It's Frustrating'

Mar. 15, 2025

Sunisa Lee; Mykayla Skinner.Photo:Andy Cheung/Getty; Laurence Griffiths/Getty

Andy Cheung/Getty; Laurence Griffiths/Getty

Suni Leeis speaking out about former teammateMyKayla Skinner’s criticismof the U.S. women’s gymnastics team.

In July, Skinner said in a since-deleted YouTube video that “besides Simone,” the “talent” and “depth” of the Team USA roster “just isn’t like what it used to be.” Skinner also questioned the “work ethic” of the team, saying, “Obviously, a lot of girls don’t work as hard.”

Lee toldGlamourthat the criticism from her former teammate was hurtful and “frustrating” in her first public addressing Skinner’s video. “We have a lot of love for her, but it’s frustrating to see her put us down because she knows, basically, about every single thing that we’ve all been through,” Lee told the magazine.

“It was more annoying because of all the things that I’ve been through,” Lee added.

Suni Lee.Aytac Unal/Anadolu via Getty

Aytac Unal/Anadolu via Getty

And hours after Team USA won the gold medal in the team all-around competition in Paris, Biles appeared to call out Skinner’s criticism in hercelebratory Instagram caption.

Over a carousel of photos of her with Chiles, Lee, Carey and Rivera after their win, Biles wrote, “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions ❤️🥇🇺🇸,” Biles wrote, seemingly referencing Skinner’s remarks.

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Skinner — who retired from the sport in 2021 and has sincewelcomed a daughterwith her husband Jonas Harmer —apologized in a follow-up videoon her Instagram Stories. The former gymnastsaid her remarks were “misinterpreted"and that “a lot” of her initial criticism “wasn’t always necessarily about the current team.”

Jamie Squire/Getty

“It was more about going back into my own gym, just the work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the Márta [Károlyi] era,” Skinner explained in her follow-up. “And I’m not sticking up for Márta or saying what she did was good, I’m just saying it was different.”

Skinner also issued a statement to PEOPLE in July following the backlash, saying, “It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work. Your hard work and dedication has paid off and I congratulate each and every one of you.”

source: people.com