Simone Biles' bitter Olympic feud with MyKayla Skinner escalates as USA teammate piles in after gold medal win

Suni Lee has become the latest USA gymnast to throw shade at MyKayla Skinner amid Simone Biles' bitter feud with their former Olympic teammate.

Biles and Lee led USA to victory in the teams final at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, capturing their first gold medals of the Games with an impressive score of 171.296.

After the win, Biles couldn't resist leaping to her teammate's defense while taking aim at an old one in Skinner, who recently sparked controversy by questioning the current American squad's 'work ethic' and dedication to their craft.

The eight-time Olympic medalist shared a photo of herself, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Jade Carey and Lee holding a USA flag aloft with the caption: 'lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions'. 

And to show her support for Biles, Lee joined her fellow USA star in mocking Skinner by writing in the comments section: 'put a finger down if simone biles just ended you' along with a hand emoji.

The 21-year-old appeared to be referencing a TikTok trend where users put a finger down when a speaker says a statement that applies to them.

Jordan Chiles, Biles and Lee's USA teammate, also wrote: 'and that’s on periodt!!'

Skinner made her controversial remarks earlier this month in a now-deleted YouTube video.

'Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be,' MyKayla, who won an Olympic silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games, said in the video.

'The girls just don't have the work ethic.'

Despite Skinner excluding her from that brutal assessment, Biles ignited a feud with her ex-gymnastics buddy by appearing to hit back at her on social media at the time. 

The USA Olympic legend took a thinly-veiled swipe at her by writing on Threads: 'not everyone needs a mic and a platform'.

And after her dig on Instagram this week, Chiles revealed that Biles has now been blocked by Skinner on the social-media platform.

After sharing a photo online showing Skinner's blank Instagram page appearing on a mobile phone, Chiles added the caption: 'When she blocks Simone.' 

Biles had also hinted on X that she no longer has access to Skinner's social media posts after writing: 'oop I've been blocked.'

She isn't the only current and former Team USA member poking fun at Skinner after Tuesday's gold medal-winning performance. USA gymnastics royalty McKayla Maroney has become embroiled in the bitter feud as well.

'It doesn't get more iconic than this,' Maroney wrote on Instagram in response to Biles' post. '[Skinner] f'd around n found out fr.'

Maroney then joked about sharing a moniker with Skinner.

'Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name,' she wrote.

While they may not have been the closest of friends, Biles and Skinner have known each other for quite some time and previously got on well after they both represented USA at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning. 

They also both picked up Olympic medals in Tokyo seven years later despite Biles withdrawing from several events with a case of the 'twisties' - a mental block that that sees a gymnast lose control of their body during a twisting skill in midair. 

Skinner picked up her silver in the vault event after Biles took a backseat, marking one of her greatest achievements as a gymnast after also winning four golds in the World Championships.