Overview

• Riley Gaines ignited the clash on June 6 by mocking a Minnesota high school softball team’s disabled comment feature and calling its transgender pitcher “a boy.”
• Simone Biles responded by branding Gaines “truly sick” and a “straight up sore loser,” and proposed creating a separate transgender category in all sports.
• Gaines countered that “men don’t belong in women’s sports,” accused Biles of being a “male apologist,” and defended her own stance as the “least controversial take on the planet.”
• In a further escalation, Gaines invoked Biles’ Larry Nassar testimony to draw a shocking parallel with transgender participation, prompting criticism for weaponizing the gymnast’s trauma.
• The exchange has drawn reactions from athletes such as Sharron Davies and Martina Navratilova and underscores looming state and federal legal battles over transgender athlete policies.