Olympic gymnast Simone Biles gives iconic responses to those ridiculing her hair and team

Every successful person faces critics or haters at some point. Standing up to negative comments, especially from online trolls, takes wit and courage. One of America's most celebrated gymnasts, Simone Biles, knows this well. Despite her Olympic victories, she still faces online attacks for her hair. But Biles has the perfect retort. Before her stellar performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, she posted an Instagram story addressing her critics.

When Biles was commuting by bus to the Bercy Arena, where the gymnastics contest took place in Paris, she captured a video of herself. In the clip, with her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, the gymnast was trying to cool herself down with a handheld mini fan, reports PEOPLE. She captioned the video, "Don't come for me about my hair. It was done, but the bus has no AC and it's like 9000 degrees. Oh and a 45-minute ride." Pointing out how the Paris heat wave didn't favor her hair, the Olympic champion warned trolls to stop ridiculing her hair or any Black girl's hair. "Gonna hold your hand when I say this. Next time you want to comment on a Black girl's hair, just don't," Biles added in a second story.

It wasn't the first time the gymnast shut down critics. In 2023, public speaker Cindy Noir (@thecindynoir) pointed out in an X post how Biles has overcome several obstacles in life and still succeeded incomparably, yet people chose to focus on her hair. Responding to this post, Biles commented, "I think they also forget I live in Houston, Texas and I sweat those out as soon as we stepped outside for pics. But they can keep complaining. I don't care." As a young girl who started to love gymnastics as a sport, Biles was never taught to do her hair. But today, the gymnast ardently takes care of her hair, which boosts her overall confidence, reports Elle.  

"I'm finally learning to love my hair and the texture that I have and the styles that I can do," the gymnast told the outlet. "I used to worry about [my hair being considered] not professional. But I'm not embarrassed about it anymore," she added. Biles was also glad to have Jordan Chiles, who is on her team, to help her with the hairdos. While it's a meticulous task for Black women to care for their hair every day, this Olympic gymnast tries to learn the art of hairstyling herself while also making her country proud in the Olympic Games.  

Not only did Biles defend her hairdo, but she also subtly took a jibe at the critics who underestimated her team. MyKayla Skinner, a former American gymnast, made a negative comment in a since-deleted YouTube video about the gymnasts of Team USA who participated in the Paris Games. "Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be. Just notice like, I mean, obviously, a lot of girls don't work as hard. The girls just don't have the work ethic," Skinner said in her video, as per PEOPLE. But the gymnasts of Team USA responded to this with their success. Celebrating her team's win in the Paris Olympics on Instagram, Biles wrote a sarcastic caption, "Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions," and it spoke volumes.