By now, you’re all familiar with the dust up over Simone Biles comments on X attacking Riley Gaines. I wrote about it yesterday here.

Biles called Gaines “sick,” a “sore loser” and “a bully” and went on to body shame her by saying that she should “bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.” That second part was especially egregious in my mind, for several reasons:

It implicitly acknowledges that men are bigger and stronger than women. (We win!)

It body shames Gaines for being muscular, something Biles has fought against and slapped back against for years. She has said: “I was built this way for a reason, so I’m going to use it.”

She went on to describe her body as “stockier” than her fellow gymnasts’. But that she would “go out there and prove what I can do [. . .] we always have more to give.”

Lastly, Biles is the star brand ambassador for Athleta, the athletic apparel brand owned by Gap, Inc. The entire brand’s ethos is about girl power — with the tagline “The Power of She.” The brand claims its mission is “empowering women and girls.” And that they are committed to inspiring “confidence, strength and belonging” for women.

So are they really ok with body shaming women with different views? Is that empowering?

It isn’t. But I’m guessing they are ok with it. They are based in San Francisco where Gaines — at San Francisco State University — was famously held hostage for hours during a speaking engagement. As I know all too well, the “progressive” Left in San Francisco has no qualms about deploying aggressive, sometimes violent and often unethical tactics — not the least of which is ad hominem attacks — against those whom they view as “right wing.”

So then Nancy Armour, sports “journalist” for USA Today, decided to weigh in with an opinion piece yesterday entitled “Simone Biles shows her greatness again in standing up for transgender community.”

I don’t expect much from Armour who has brought us such delights as “What ESPN's Sam Ponder calls 'fairness' is plain old bigotry.” (Ponder stood up for the protection of women’s sports in a tweet in April of 2023.)

Armour’s article amounted to basic gymnastics blog fan-girl pablum. But USA Today decided it passed for journalism.

Armour wrote: “There is no scientific evidence that transgender women athletes have a physical advantage over cisgender women athletes, but that hasn’t stopped Gaines from claiming they do.”

Armour’s assertion is patently false. In a recent peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Applied Physiology the evidence of ‘male advantage’ was summarized: “There are profound sex differences in human performance in athletic events determined by strength, speed, power, endurance, and body size such that males outperform females.”

And, as The New York Times wrote in April of this year:

“. . . in recent years, a growing body of evidence has indicated that differences in athletic performance exist between males and females even before puberty. Scientists have also found evidence, in animal models and cultured human cells, for what’s known as the ‘muscle memory theory.’ This theory, as Michael Joyner, a doctor who studies sex differences in human physiology, wrote in a recent article for The Journal of Applied Physiology, posits that ‘the beneficial effects of high testosterone on skeletal muscle and the response to training are retained even when androgens are absent.’ In other words, the physical advantages of having high levels of testosterone are believed to remain long after the testosterone is gone from the body. All of this has contributed to the concept of ‘retained male advantage.’”

But Armour doesn’t let facts get in the way of her story which is that Biles is heroic for bashing Gaines without actually addressing the heart of Gaines’ advocacy: that women and men are different; and women deserve their own sports and spaces. Title IX dictates it, in fact.

Armour instead falls back on Biles’ achievements — which are legendary. Biles is the most decorated gymnast of all time. She has won 11 medals at the Olympics, 7 of them gold, and 30 at the world championships. She is, no doubt, the GOAT when it comes to her athletic achievements in gymnastics. But that doesn’t mean her argument is correct. Though I’m not totally sure what her argument is.

Biles’ advocates for a third category. Or, I should say, she suggests that Gaines should do so. But why doesn’t Biles do it if she believes in one? Biles has more money, more influence, more followers (over 12M on IG!) than Gaines. Go for it, Simone!

Biles dig at Gaines saying she should really be advocating for a third category is an implicit acknowledgement that men are faster and stronger — that they have “male advantage.” Which Biles also knows — and the twitter-verse has been digging up old tweets of hers, where she acknowledged just that.

Biles “recommendation” also fails to understand that the gender ideologues and trans-activists don’t want a third category. USA Swimming tried it. No one showed up. It is viewed as “separate but equal” style bigotry and “othering.”

This is why the activists constantly repeat the line “Trans women are women.” They won’t stop until these men who think they are women are viewed as actual women, and take over women’s sports and spaces. Because identity validation is the game. And humiliation of actual women doesn’t matter a lick.

Armour goes on to call Biles “fearless” saying “you don’t accomplish what Biles has without being fearless, and her admonishment of Gaines on Friday night was yet another example.”

No, Nancy. It wasn’t fearless. In Biles’ bubble, everyone she knows agrees with her. She most certainly didn’t expect the clap back she got. And saying what she did put zero endorsements at risk.

Biles risked nothing. Not friends. Not fawning press coverage. Not endorsement deals. Nothing.

But I can guarantee you if she'd said the opposite — that males have no place in women's sports — Athleta would have ended the contract for so-called hate speech. There would go the millions out the window. (Reportedly Biles’ contract with Athleta is at least $8M, likely much higher.) And all Simone’s other brand deals would have ended as well. Uber Eats — buh bye. Visa — nope. United — gone.

That would have been brave. What Simone said aligns with the bullshit spewed by corporate culture, legacy media and most sports governing bodies. Despite the fact that 80% of Americans think women’s sports should be for women only, the minority has the mic and they bully with impunity.

I stand with Riley. In a world where believing there are two sexes is vilified as “hate speech,” the brave stand up for truth. And while Riley has a following and influence now, when she started she did not. She took a stand because it was the right thing to do for women and girls. She’s faced violence and threats and she keeps going.

And while Armour flings around the phrase “grifter” at Gaines, one might wonder if it is more appropriately trained on Biles. Were her comments merely courting corporate sponsors’ woke-ness? And, one also has to wonder why she let fellow unknown gymnasts twist in the wind, waiting for more than 2 years after the news broke about Nassar to go public, waiting until after he was sentenced, to say anything at all? An army of unknown survivors did the work to get him put away for life.

And an army of women and girls — without gold medals and lucrative endorsement deals — will put an end to the absurdity of men stealing medals (not to mention safety and privacy) from female athletes. Onward, ladies.