Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles called out the USA Gymnastics interim president for an anti-Nike tweet, following the shoe brand naming Colin Kaepernick its spokesperson.
Biles quote-tweeted Mary Bono's month-old tweet, which was critical of the former San Francisco quarterback's protests against police brutality and his association with Nike.
The 21-year-old happens to be sponsored by Nike. Bono's now-deleted tweet featured a photo of herself blacking out or erasing a Nike logo on a golf shoe, reports ESPN.
"Don’t worry, she wrote Saturday. "It’s not like we needed a smarter USA gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything."
*mouth drop*
don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything https://t.co/cYQizcjywn
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) October 13, 2018
The tweet comes at a time when USA Gymnastics is still recovering from the team doctor Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal. An estimated 200 women accused Nassar of taking advantage of them under the guise of medical treatment. According to The Associated Press, Bono, who was a Republican congresswoman, took over following the resignation of Kerry Perry.
After the blowback, the interim president apologized for tweeting the critical photo and promised to repair the damage made:
I regret the post and respect everyone’s views & fundamental right to express them. This doesn’t reflect how I will approach my position @USAGym I will do everything I can to help build, w/ the community, an open, safe & positive environment.
— Mary Bono (@MaryBonoUSA) October 14, 2018
Bye, Bono. Just two days before Biles' gathering of the interim president's tweet, the young gymnast spiced up one of the most difficult vault moves on Thursday, meaning the exercise has yet to be done by any other woman, according to Deadspin. If she repeats it at the world championships which begins later this month, the move will likely be named in her honor.
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