Olympic champion Simone Biles is upset about an anti-Nike tweet from USA Gymnastics interim president and CEO Mary Bono.
Bono was appointed last Friday to hold the position while USA Gymnastics searches for a permanent successor to Kerry Perry, who resigned under pressure from the United States Olympic Committee in September after spending nine months on the job.
Biles responded last Saturday to a tweet from Bono last month criticizing Nike following the release of its advertising campaign featuring former National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Bono, a former Republican congresswoman, had posted a photo of herself drawing over a Nike logo on a golf shoe.
Biles quote-tweeted Bono’s photo and wrote: “(asterisk)mouth drop(asterisk) don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything.”
Bono deleted her tweet about five hours later, saying she regretted the post and respects “everyone’s views & fundamental right to express them.”
Nike is one of Biles’s sponsors.
Biles is among the more than 200 women who have come forward over the last two years claiming they were sexually abused by former team doctor Larry Nassar under the guise of treatment. Biles was critical of Perry for not being vocal enough in support of the survivors.
Bono spent 15 years as a US Representative from Southern California from 1998-2013. She won her first term in a special election running as a Republican to fill the vacancy left by the death of her husband, former pop star and lawmaker Sonny Bono. Mary Bono most recently worked at a consulting firm in Washington, D.C.
Bono, 57, has a background in gymnastics. She trained for several clubs for a decade.
“Mary is passionate about the sport, and having her as our interim president and CEO will move the organization forward,” USA Gymnastics board chairman Karen Golz said in a statement.
USA Gymnastics is still struggling to emerge from the fallout of the sexual abuse scandal surrounding former team doctor Larry Nassar. More than 200 women have come forward over the last two years claiming they were sexually abused by Nassar under the guise of treatment, including current or former members of the organization’s elite program.
Image credits: AP