"No other gymnast even close to Simone Biles"- Riley Gaines reacts as the gymnast is named SI Sportsperson of the Year

Riley Gaines reacted to Simone Biles being named Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year. The 27-year-old had an impressive 2024, during which, she won four medals, three of which were gold.

Gaines reacted to Biles winning the award on X by sharing a goat emoji, meant to indicate that the former swimmer called the gymnast the Greatest of All Time.

The 24-year-old social activist further added in another post on her X handle,

"There's no other gymnast even close to Simone's level & they're likely wont be for a long long time. Some of her skills don't seem humanly possibly. Idc about her politics, she's goated."

Simone Biles was previously nominated for the 'Female Athlete of the Year' award by the Associated Press in December 2024. However, she narrowly lost out to the WNBA player Caitlin Clark, who won with a total of 35 votes. Biles got a total of 25 votes.

Riley Gaines had previously lauded Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone for her achievements, while comparing her to Imane Khelif, who was also one of the nominees for AP's 'Female Athlete of the Year' award. McLaughlin-Levrone won two gold medals in the women's 400m hurdles and the women's 4x400m relay event at the Paris Olympics respectively.

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Riley Gaines on Associated Press nominating Imane Khelif for 'Female Athlete of the Year'

Riley Gaines on Imane Khelif being nominated 'Female Athlete of the Year' [Image Source : Getty]

Riley Gaines had also reacted to Algerian boxer Imane Khelif being nominated for 'Female Athlete of the Year' award by the Associated Press. Khelif had won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, though it was shrouded in controversy over her gender identity.

Gaines reacted to Khelif's nomination as she posted on her X handle,

"The absurd part is @AP knows he is a man (just as anyone with eyes does), but they just don't care. His medical records showing his chromosomes & anatomy are public. 4 dunces just genuinely believe a man makes the best woman. Why have a woman's award if a man can win it?"

Gaines also compared Khelif's achievements with that of Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in another post. In her words,

"His achievements are comparable to other athletes who weren't nominated even once, like Sydney McLaughlin [Levrone] , who broke her own world record at the Games for the fifth time after a long injury break that kept her off track. And so the message I got was that he [Khelif] was nominated because he was male and they want to punish women."

Previously, Riley Gaines had also campaigned against the participation of Blaire Fleming at the NCAA Mountain West Conference League, who is reportedly a transgender. She has called out the NCAA on multiple occasions for not addressing the concerns around the safety of women's sports.