Sam Phillips Defends Simone Biles, Criticizes Riley Gaines on Transgender Athlete Debate

The national debate over transgender participation in women’s sports just ramped up again, thanks to a heated public exchange between Olympic legend Simone Biles and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines.

What started as a comment about a high school softball championship spiraled into a broader cultural clash. Athletes from all corners jumped in, and old arguments about fairness, biology, and inclusion resurfaced.

Now, University of Illinois gymnast Sam Phillips has stepped in. He defended Biles and criticized Gaines, adding even more fuel to an already polarized conversation.

The Spark That Reignited a National Sports Debate

This latest controversy began when Gaines highlighted a Minnesota high school softball team that won a state championship with a pitcher identified as a biological male. Gaines used the incident to reinforce her stance that women’s sports should stay exclusive to biological females.

Simone Biles fired back on social media. She criticized Gaines and called for more support for the transgender community.

The story went viral, grabbing attention far beyond gymnastics or swimming. Biles eventually stopped engaging, but Gaines addressed everything on her show, saying her advocacy is about protecting fairness and safety in women’s athletics—not about opposing transgender people.

Sam Phillips Enters the Conversation

Sam Phillips, a male gymnast with USA Gymnastics and the University of Illinois, became one of Biles’ most vocal defenders. Talking to OutSports, Phillips argued that Biles’ athletic ability is so extraordinary that she could have won gold medals in some men’s gymnastics events, especially on floor and vault.

Phillips also said that if Biles had trained on rings from a young age, she might have excelled there too. He framed his point around the idea that limiting opportunities based on sex restricts human potential in sports.

Claims of Expertise and Activism

Phillips brought up his academic and activist background, mentioning that he’s written several papers on transgender athletes in sports and joined NCAA-level discussions. He said he’s protecting his community and personal well-being, and he described opposition voices as driven by ignorance and hostility.

Some supporters praised Phillips for focusing on unity and inclusion. Critics, though, said he ignored basic biological differences that have historically shaped sex-based athletic divisions.

Context Often Missing From the Gymnastics Argument

Phillips focused a lot on gymnastics—a sport where skill, power-to-weight ratio, and artistry sometimes blur sex-based differences. Critics argued that this narrow focus misses the bigger issue Gaines raised, which stretches across contact sports, endurance events, and areas where male puberty can bring lasting physical advantages.

Things got more complicated when an old social media post from 2017 resurfaced, showing Biles herself commenting on men taking medals from women. For some, this contradiction just shows how quickly the public conversation on transgender athletes has shifted.

Riley Gaines and the Lia Thomas Precedent

Gaines’ stance comes from personal experience. As a collegiate swimmer, she competed against Lia Thomas at the NCAA Championships.

Thomas had swum in the men’s division with modest results before transitioning and later winning a national title in the women’s division.

Gaines and her supporters see this as a clear example of why sex-based categories exist. They argue women’s sports were created to ensure fair competition and opportunities for female athletes, especially since men generally have physiological advantages.

Clarifying the Mischaracterization

Despite often being labeled as anti-trans, Gaines has repeatedly said she doesn’t think transgender athletes should be banned from sports altogether. She wants women’s divisions to be for biological females, while exploring other ways to include everyone without sacrificing fairness.

Her supporters say this nuance often gets lost in media coverage and online debates, where everything turns into black-and-white extremes.

The Media and Athlete Divide

The Gaines-Biles clash shows a growing divide between elite athletes, advocacy groups, and parts of the sports media. Some high-profile voices frame the issue as one of civil rights and inclusion.

Others focus on data-driven concerns about injury risk, competitive imbalance, and lost scholarships. Phillips’ comments echo a trend among some athletes who see opposition to transgender inclusion as inherently harmful.