Following an online spat between gymnastics legend Simone Biles and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines sparked heated debate, the controversy appears to be evolving far beyond social media.

Gaines has returned to the conversation, now tying her earlier dispute with Biles to a developing legal battle in Oregon involving two high school girls who are challenging transgender participation in girls’ sports.

At the heart of this latest twist is a lawsuit filed by Oregon track athletes Maddie Eischen and Sophia Carpenter. The students, both female runners, say they were forced to compete against a transgender athlete at the Chehalem Classic track meet in April, an experience that led them to walk off the field in protest.

Now, they’ve taken their concerns to court, challenging Oregon’s inclusive athletics policy that allows athletes to compete based on their gender identity.

But according to Gaines, who has positioned herself as a vocal advocate for women’s sports, the girls’ decision to sue was not made in a vacuum. Instead, she claims the lawsuit was influenced by the backlash to Biles‘ recent comments aimed at her.

“Simone Biles‘ disparaging comments towards female athletes totally backfired,” Gaines wrote on X. “She inadvertently inspired two high school girls in Oregon to sue the state after being forced to compete against a boy at their state championship meet. Poetic.”

Viral feud spills into real-world legal fight

The online drama originally began when Gaines weighed in on a game involving a Minnesota girls’ softball team, which featured a transgender pitcher. Her remarks sparked backlash, including a blunt retort from Biles: “bully someone your own size.” The response quickly gained traction on social media, drawing attention from athletes, pundits, and advocacy groups on both sides of the debate.

According to Eischen and Carpenter, that clash between two high-profile figures opened their eyes to the national implications of their experience. Gaines had reportedly contacted them soon after the April meet, but the media frenzy around her back-and-forth with Biles served as a tipping point. The girls stated that it clarified the broader stakes and emboldened them to take legal action.

The Oregon lawsuit challenges current regulations that allow transgender girls to compete alongside cisgender girls in high school athletics.

The plaintiffs argue this framework undermines the fairness and integrity of female competition and violates their rights under federal law, particularly Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs.

The lawsuit could emerge as a pivotal test case in the larger national debate, joining similar legal efforts around the country aimed at limiting transgender participation in women’s and girls’ sports.

Critics of such efforts argue they stigmatize and marginalize transgender youth, while proponents, like Gaines, insist they’re about protecting the rights and opportunities of cisgender girls.

Three weeks after sparking a war of words with anti-trans activist Riley Gaines, apologizing for her targeted remarks, and being inundated with comments about the incident since, seven-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles has deleted her account on X, formerly Twitter.

Biles de-activated her account, which had nearly two million followers, after she came to the defense of a transgender high school athlete that Gaines had been attacking.

But after Biles personally insulted Gaines, it opened up a flood gate of attacks which appears to have led the 28-year-old gymnast – considered the greatest of all time – to remove her account on the platform.

Biles still has her accounts on Threads (with 2.1m followers) and Instagram (12.4m followers) active.

Gaines decided to deliver a parting shot to the gymnast, claiming that Biles ‘-has an incredibly unpopular and morally indefensible take – gets rightfully ridiculed for it – issues a groveling public apology after unrelenting backlash – deletes account to pretend it never happened’.

Gaines, who made a career out of politically advocating against trans people in sports after finishing tied for fifth with a trans woman at a swim meet, concluded, ‘Sad to see such a phenom go down like this’.

Biles ignited a war of words with anti-trans activist Riley Gaines three weeks ago. Despite apologizing for her personal attack on Gaines, Biles’ social accounts are still rife with trolls.

The feud between Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines has taken a surprising turn as Gaines says she is open to collaboration.

Their back-and-forth erupted over transgender participation in women’s sports, with Biles condemning Gaines’ tone and calling her “sick” in a tweet, before issuing an apology.

Now, in a conciliatory shift, Gaines has praised Biles and expressed willingness to work together, provided they unite around “fairness” in women’s athletics.

Riley Gaines Says She’s Open To A Collaboration With Simone Biles

Gaines has extended the olive branch to Simone Biles amid their public feud.

During a chat with TMZ, the political activist revealed she was open to working with the Olympic gold medalist.

“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,” she said.

Gaines explained that Biles’s comments were disheartening not because of personal attacks but 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,” she added.

Riley Gaines Says Simone Biles’ Comments Were Due To Ignorance

Gaines further criticized Biles’ initial comments, saying they came off as rushed and uninformed.

“In the blink of an eye, she effectively pulled up the ladder behind her,” the 25-year-old noted, referencing what she described as Biles’ lack of awareness in addressing the issue.

“I think there was a lot of ignorance to the issue when she issued her initial tweets on that Friday evening,” Gaines added.

Despite the tension, Gaines said she believed Biles’ influence could be a powerful force, if directed toward the cause she champions.

“I think Simone would be a fantastic ally in this fight,” she said. “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.”

Simone Biles And Riley Gaines Engage In Back And Forth

The feud between Biles and Gaines began on June 6 when the latter took a shot at a Minnesota high school softball team, arguing that having a trans pitcher created an unfair advantage.

Commenting on a celebratory post, she tweeted, “Comments off lol. To be expected when your star player is a boy.”

Gaines’ comments didn’t sit well with Biles, as the 28-year-old slammed the former swimmer, writing, “You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans [people] feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!”

She continued, “But instead…You Bully them…One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around.”

Gaines Responds To Biles’ Comments

Moments later, the gymnast took the war of words further with another post on X.

“Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male,” Simone Biles tweeted.

Shortly after, Riley Gaines responded to that post, calling Biles’ comments “ so disappointing,” adding that her “take is the least controversial take on the planet.”

“Simone Biles being a male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams? Didn’t have that on my bingo card. Maybe she could compete in the pommel horse and rings in 2028,” Gaines tweeted.

In a follow-up post, she then accused Biles of subtle “body shaming.”

Not long after, Gaines took to Instagram with a video, sharing Biles’ comments and revealing that she “couldn’t care less” about what the star had to say about her.

Biles Apologizes To Gaines

On June 10, days after her harsh reaction toward Gaines sparked backlash, Simone Biles issued a public apology on X.

“It didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for,” Biles wrote.

She clarified that her frustration wasn’t about “policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports,” but about singling out young athletes for scrutiny in harmful ways.

Biles went on to reaffirm her belief in “competitive equity & inclusivity” and appealed for empathy and respect in the ongoing dialogue.

“I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful,” she finished.

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.

Simone Biles took offense to college swimmer Riley Gaines’ disparaging comment about a trans high school athlete—and the chalk started flying in both directions.

Simone Biles wasn’t afraid to dive headfirst into controversy to call out behavior she found toxic.

Riley Gaines—a former college swimmer who has become an advocate for banning trans girls and trans women from competing in girls’ and women’s sports—drew Biles’ ire June 6, when she mocked the Minnesota State High School League.

The league had turned off comments on an X post celebrating the 2025 Softball State Champion Champlin Park, whose 17-year-old star pitcher is trans.

“Comments off lol,” Gaines wrote. “To be expected when your star player is a boy.”

In a June 6 X post, Biles called the 25-year-old Fox News pundit “truly sick” and “a sore loser,” seemingly in reference to Gaines tying for fifth place with Lia Thomas, a trans woman, in a race at the 2022 Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The gymnast, 28, also slammed Gaines for sowing division and punching down instead of using her platform to find a way to “make sports inclusive” or create “a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports.”

Gaines was unfazed, calling the 11-time Olympic medalist’s response “so disappointing.”

Of course, that was only the beginning.

Their war of words went viral, and Biles eventually offered an apology for getting personal instead of just arguing on behalf of her position.

Gaines, however, was happy to keep invoking their feud, even bringing it up while confirming to a Turning Point USA audience that she’s pregnant with her first child.

Read on for all the details as to how Biles vs. Gaines started and how it’s going:

Riley Gaines Announces She’s Pregnant, Takes Jab at Simone Biles

Riley Gaines Simone Said I Was Tall Like A Dude

Can A Man Grow A Baby Bump???