Simone Biles Criticizes New Head of USA Gymnastics
Written by SOURCE on October 14, 2018
Simone Biles criticized USA Gymnastics’ decision to appoint Mary Bono as interim president and chief executive officer Saturday.
The Olympic gold medalist shared her displeasure with USA Gymnastics’ decision via Twitter, resurfacing a distasteful tweet Bono had posted last month. Bono had tweeted a photo of her blacking out a Nike logo in the wake of the company’s advertising endorsement of Colin Kaepernick. Biles accompanied the retweet with her explicit disapproval of Bono’s appointment, writing, “*mouth drop* don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything.” Bono also tweeted #BoycottNike during the company’s campaign.
Bono is a former US Congresswoman who spent 15 years in the legislature until 2013. She won her first term during a special election to fill the vacant seat of her deceased husband, pop star and legislator Sonny Bono. She was most recently working at a consulting firm in Washington D.C. The Olympic organization will keep Bono as their acting president until they find a permanent replacement for Kerry Perry.
This isn’t the first wave of discontent for USA Gymnastics’ which received a great deal of criticism following the ouster of Larry Nassar, the USA Gymnastics doctor accused of sexual assault by nearly 200 women, including Biles.
Biles was announced to the 2018 championship team Friday, before the announcement of Bono’s confirmation.
