“There is no room for racism in any sport or at all" - Simone Biles shows her support to young gymnast involved in racism controversy in Ireland

Simone Biles recently supported a young girl after she experienced racism at a tournament in Ireland. The seven-time Olympic gymnast expressed her strong views against colorism practices and detested its existence in sports.

On Saturday, Gymnastics Ireland organized a children’s tournament at the National Indoor Arena, where the little girl was snubbed a medal. A social media user posted the video, pointing out the injustice prevailing at the tournament. Moreover, fans tagged Simone Biles to bring her attention to the unfair treatment of the girl.

The X (formerly known as Twitter) video showed a tournament representative providing medals to all participants. Just like the other little gymnasts in the video, the black girl was also excited to get the medal.

However, she was ignored by the representative when it was her turn to receive it. The girl’s facial expression dropped to disappointment as she saw medals hanging around other participants’ necks.

Observing the video, another user tagged Simone Biles and wrote:

“I would love to see @Simone_Biles reach out to this girl if she’s able.

The Olympic gymnast replied to the user, revealing that she did reach out to the little girl. Biles wrote:

"when this video was circulating, her parents reached out. It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video there is no room for racism in any sport or at all !!!!" Biles wrote.

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Simone Biles did not encounter racism until 2013

Simone Biles at 2023 U.S. Classic

At the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Simone Biles made history by becoming the first black woman to win the all-around title. While Biles celebrated the glorious moment, her competition, Carlotta Ferlito, who won the bronze medal, made headlines for her racist comment about the American gymnast.

The Italian gymnast told the media that Biles won the medals because of her color. She told:

"Next time we should also paint our skin black so then we can win, too."

Biles' mother spoke about Ferlito’s controversial statement and how it hurt Biles. She didn’t want Biles to ruin her winning moment by replying to her competitor’s comment. However, Ferlito provided a public apology to the legendary gymnast later on.

Recalling her first racism encounter, Biles told in an interview with Today that all athletes of color have faced similar situations throughout their careers. She further added:

"But you just have to keep going for those little ones looking up to us. It doesn't matter what you look like. You can strive for greatness, and you can be great," she said.