Riley Gaines breaks silence on drawing connection with Larry Nassar amid her feud with Simone Biles

Riley Gaines recently made her stance clear on drawing connection with Larry Nassar amid her feud with Simone Biles. After Biles criticized Gaines for calling out transgender athletes, the former swimmer drew comparisons with the former USA Gymnastics program doctor, Nassar. Biles testified against Nassar in 2021 following the allegations of sexual abuse against him.

Gaines received major backlash after bringing up Nassar amidst the rift between her and the gymnast. In an interview with Fox News, Gaines acknowledged receiving criticism. She cleared her stance of bringing up Nassar to help people understand the emotional turmoil of her situation of being in a vulnerable place like a locker room. Gaines stated her opinion that the violation of personal space was similarly faced by the gymnast during Nassar's tenure.

"I got pushback for bringing up Larry Nassar," Gaines said. "If you compare the words she said to words I said, different issue, similar premise. We sound like we’re saying the exact same thing. We both got emotional in those settings."

She added:

"But I draw that connection because again, picture it, you’re in a swimming locker room, there is no stalls necessarily, big open space under the shower head and there is a six four naked man standing fully naked watching you shower where you are simultaneously fully undressed. That is why I drew that connection. I don’t think people understand that. In any case, anyone who attempts to normalize what we went through or Simone went through is a disgusting human being." (8:20 onwards)

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Riley Gaines 'initially agreed' with Simone Biles' take on transgender athletes' participation in sports

Riley Gaines recently expressed her agreement with Simone Biles' take on the participation of transgender athletes in sports. When Biles initially called out Gaines for "bullying" trans athletes, she suggested having different categories for transgender athletes altogether.

Gaines gave her nod to this idea, but reflected on the 2023 Swimming World Cup in Berlin when a new category was inducted but received no participation.

"Simone mentioned in her initial tweet that she was creating a third category on this. I'll tell you I initially supported this idea," Riley Gaines said via Outkick on X. "But I'll tell you when I change my mind. This was done. FINA, the international governing body of swimming, created a third category for people like Lia Thomas for those who identified as trans non-conforming, non-binary, and whatever it is. There's a separate category for that. No one competed in it."

Riley Gaines also welcomed Biles to join her in the advocacy.