Riley Gaines and Simone Biles … working together?! Could happen, according to the former All-American swimmer herself, who tells TMZ Sports she’d “absolutely” be open to the idea.
Of course, this comes on the heels of the two athletes’ social media dust-up earlier this month … which culminated with the 7x Olympic gold medalist apologizing to the former University of Kentucky swim star for likening her physical stature to that of a man while the women debated trans athletes’ participation in youth girls’ sports.
We spoke to Riley, a political activist and host of Outkick’s “Gaines For Girls“ podcast, where we asked her if she’d be down to team up with Biles.
“Absolutely,” Gaines said without hesitation.
“Look, Simone is someone I’ve looked up to, I’ve respected for so long. She has done so much for women’s sports, of course, for the sport of gymnastics, but even broader than that for women in general.”
Riley then went on to explain why Biles’ comments were so disheartening.
“Her stance felt so deeply visceral to me not because of the personal attacks, but more so again because of how she used her platform, a platform where young girls all across the nation, young girls like my little sister, who’s a gymnast, look up to her.”
RG added … “In the blink of an eye, she effectively pulled up the ladder behind her. And again, a way that was, I think, done in haste. I think there was a lot of ignorance to the issue when she issued her initial tweets on that Friday evening.”
But, at the end of the day, SB apologized for the body shaming, and Gaines sees a lot of value in a potential partnership with Biles.
“I think [Simone] would be a fantastic ally in this fight. Her platform is still incredible. Her career has been illustrious, to say the least. I think we could do a lot together if she was willing to do it.”
