Simone Biles said it all in her response to criticism of the talent and depth of Team USA’s roster from Olympic teammate MyKayla Skinner

The “back in my day” crowd never dies. It is recreated generation after generation, crammed with members who belittle and disrespect “kids these days.”

There’s no shortage of complaints about the old style. Life was harder, but they’re higher off because of it: tougher, smarter, and more disciplined. They understood concepts like decency and order, had a greater sense of fashion, and a better work ethic. The old way was all the time right, even when the adults were aggressive. Fuck your feelings.

That will need to have been MyKayla Skinner’s attitude the last time she criticized the gymnasts — with the exception of Simone Biles — on the U.S. 2024 Olympic team. Skinner, who, despite her name, has no melanin, won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and she wasn’t trying this time. At 27, she’s old for a gymnast, and late last month, she seemed like an old lady in a since-deleted two-hour YouTube livestream:

“Apart from Simone, I think the talent and depth of the squad isn’t what it used to be” Skinner said“Of course, many girls don’t work that hard.”

Biles is the same age as Skinner, and the two have known one another for a very long time, having finished first and second, respectively, as teenagers in the 2015 America’s Cup. If Skinner’s criticism were based solely on ageism, it could be easier to understand. Instead, she suggested that the current group is weak because they have not experienced the abuses that plagued gymnastics before reforms were introduced a decade ago.

“Girls just don’t have the work ethic” Skinner saidpartly blaming the U.S. Center for SafeSport. “Coaches can’t get to the athletes and they have to be really careful about what they say, which is really good in some ways. But at the same time, to get to where you need to be in gymnastics, you have to be a little aggressive and a little intense.”

Reminds me of Divine 9 members who complain when latest pledges “slip” into the organization without absorbing the physical and mental abuse of past eras. Who cares about deaths, traumas, and lawsuits? We can’t be soft here!

No wonder Skinner was burned on social media for her obtuseness. She initially posted on Instagram Stories that her comments were misinterpreted, a laughable defense of such direct remarks. She said her approach was “not always about the current team,” but more about the gymnasts at her own gym. As in the event that they didn’t get the same respect as Olympic athletes.

Biles (apparently) responded succinctly and adequately, not naming any names but leaving little doubt who she was talking about. “Not everyone needs a microphone and a platform,” the four-time Olympic gold medalist said wrote last week via Instagram threads.

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That’s one other difference between Skinner and Biles. The retired gymnast should sit back and deal with raising her 9-month-old daughter, while the GOAT continues to make history and defend athletes’ rights.

During the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021, Biles was an advocate for mental health when he withdrew from the competition because of the “twisties,” a phenomenon where gymnasts lose spatial awareness in midair. A number of months later, she was an advocate for sexual assault victims, testifying against Larry Nassar on the Capitol; the disgraced doctor’s years of abuse were disguised as medical treatment and ultimately led to Creation of SafeSport.

In an official apology following the so-called clarification, Skinner said her judgment was clouded by her experiences under legendary American Olympic coach Marta Karolyi, who he allegedly harassed gymnastsCynics accuse Skinner of playing the victim, but just a little empathy is in order.

“On reflection, I compared the era of Marta to the present era” Skinner published on Instagram. “I’m starting to come to terms with the fact that I didn’t fully deal with the emotional and verbal abuse I experienced under Marta, which may have led to my hurtful comments.”

What is it about hurt people hurting others?

She would not be the first person to experience violence and then, subconsciously or not, defend the perspective of her abusers. She might think that it helped her change into an Olympic medalist, so it wasn’t so bad then and it cannot be so bad now. Bear with it.

This was the standard approach for generation after generation in sports, Greek letter organizations, the military, and other endeavors. But then more enlightened views took hold and we realized that not a lot was needed.

Being old-fashioned is wonderful, to some extent. Skinner’s problem was that he was an excessive amount of of an old idiot.

And that is not cool at all.