Conservative commentator and former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines has reignited a fierce debate over transgender athletes by launching a deeply personal and controversial counterattack against Olympic gymnastics icon Simone Biles.
The online clash began after Biles, 28, took to social media Friday night to blast Gaines for criticizing a Minnesota high school softball team that includes a transgender player, Marissa Rothenberger.
Rothenberger, a biologically male athlete whose birth certificate was changed in childhood to list her as female, helped lead Champlin Park High School to a state championship—a feat that triggered a wave of backlash from Gaines and her supporters.
Gaines, 25, responded with a pointed attack that invoked Biles’ traumatic past involving convicted sexual predator Larry Nassar, the disgraced USA Gymnastics team doctor who was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for abusing dozens of athletes, including Biles.
“All the horrific sexual abuse @Simone_Biles witnessed and spoke out against caused by one man, yet believes women should be forced to strip naked in front of men to validate the man’s feelings,” Gaines wrote on X. “You know how many gold medals you’d have if your ‘inclusive’ dream came true? Zero.”
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The comment, which referenced the broader controversy around transgender inclusion in women’s sports and locker rooms, quickly sparked outrage.
But Gaines doubled down, posting a clip of Biles’ 2021 Senate testimony about Nassar’s abuse alongside a screenshot of Biles’ earlier tweet, captioned: “Simone Biles when she had to endure a predatory man vs Simone Biles when other girls have to endure predatory men.”
Gaines later clarified that her issue was with the systems in place—not with Biles’ courage in speaking out. “The gymnasts were failed by a system that protected an abusive man at the expense of the girls’ safety. And now that same system is failing female athletes again in the name of inclusion,” she said.
The back-and-forth ignited after Gaines shared a post showing Champlin Park’s team celebrating its state title. “Comments off lol,” Gaines wrote. “To be expected when your star player is a boy.” Biles, outraged by the dismissal of Rothenberger’s identity, fired back with a scathing tweet: “You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser.”
Biles continued, suggesting that Gaines should work to create inclusive spaces rather than “bully” transgender athletes. “Maybe a transgender category in ALL sports! But instead… you bully them,” she wrote. “One thing’s for sure—no one in sports is safe with you around.”
In another jab, Biles added: “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”
Gaines stood firm in her response: “It’s not my job—or any woman’s job—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.”
Gaines, who tied for fifth with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Championships, has become one of the most prominent voices opposing the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s competitions. Her activism has been recognized by conservative politicians, including Donald Trump, who welcomed her to the White House before signing the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.
Others rallied behind Gaines, including former ESPN reporter Sage Steele, who criticized Biles for targeting another female athlete. “Every one of your Olympic medals came competing against fellow women,” Steele wrote. “Riley Gaines was not only forced to compete against a man but forced to share a locker room with a man. THAT is sick.”
The debate also touched on Rothenberger’s background. Reduxx reported that at age nine, Rothenberger’s mother successfully petitioned a court to change the child’s name from “Charlie Dean” to Marissa and alter the birth certificate to reflect a female identity.
Simone Biles has not issued any further statements beyond retweeting her original criticism of Gaines, though she did respond to a Trump-supporting critic who cited biological differences between men and women in gymnastics. “Can you even read?” Biles snapped. “I see we are lacking comprehension skills as well…”
The firestorm comes amid renewed national attention on transgender participation in school and collegiate athletics, as states and organizations continue to navigate the legal, ethical, and competitive complexities of the issue.
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