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People are confusing olympians McKayla Maroney and MyKayla Skinner amid Simone Biles shade

McKayla Maroney became a meme, MyKayla Skinner became a hater.

Kayla Caldwell

Aug 15, 2013; Hartford, CT, USA; McKayla Maroney (center) before the start of the women's P&G Gymnastics Championships.
Aug 15, 2013; Hartford, CT, USA; McKayla Maroney (center) before the start of the women's P&G Gymnastics Championships. / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Simone Biles garnered praise online for her shady Instagram post shared following Team USA’s gold medal win on Tuesday, July 30. 

However, it seems some fans were confused about whom the pointed dig was referring. One fan took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to set the record straight. “The ‘MyKayla’ who went viral for calling Simone Biles + her teammates untalented and lazy is NOT the same person as the ‘McKayla’ who went viral for the not impressed meme face.”

The X user noted the pair did both win silver at vault — Maroney in 2012, Skinner in 2021 — but clarified, “McKayla Maroney is one of the most universally liked gymnasts in the sport and she's been an amazing role model all these years.”

Skinner, 27, shared a since-deleted YouTube video in June 2024 when the Team USA girls were announced, infamously saying, “Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be… I mean, obviously a lot of girls don't work as hard. The girls just don't have the work ethic.” She even complained that coaches weren’t tough enough on the athletes. 

Skinner finished fifth at the 2021 Olympic trials, which led to her competing as an individual at the Tokyo Games, rather than on the four-member Team USA. She went on to win silver for vault in 2021. 

Maroney, 28, on the other hand, won team gold for the US in women’s gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the favorite for gold for vault as well, but ended up getting silver after she fell on her second of two vaults. Romanian Sandra Izbasa took the gold. 

Maroney famously then became a meme when she made her "not impressed" face while receiving her medal. “I remember doing that face for literally two seconds,” she later said in a 2014 interview with Inside Gymnastics, before admitting, “I was sad. I was upset. And I was not impressed.” 

However, her support of the Team USA women has never wavered, hence her quickly responding to Biles’ Instagram shade. “It doesn't get more iconic than this. She f'd around n found out fr,” Maroney commented, adding, “Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name.”

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Kayla Caldwell
KAYLA CALDWELL