Italian gymnast Carlotta Ferlito took to Twitter to apologize for some comments that many people perceived as racist pertaining to American gymnast Simone Biles after she won third place and finished with the Bronze medal in the balance beam competition at the World Championships Sunday.
Ferlito finished fifth overall in the balance beam final and her teammate Vanessa Ferrari placed fourth while Biles took home the Bronze after her initial score was upgraded following a successful scoring inquiry into her difficulty score, according to NBC Sports.
Had Biles' score not been changed, Ferlito and Ferrari would have upgraded one spot in the standings.
"I told Vane (Ferrari) that next time we'll have our skin black also so we can win, too," Ferlito said with a laugh afterward, according to the Associated Press.
Ferlito took to Twitter to apologize for her comments following some backlash, and a picture of the Tweets translated to English can be seen here.
The tweets translated into English said according to NBC Sports, "I've made a mistake, I'm not perfect. I was too nervous i didn't think about what i was saying. I'm just a human. I'm so sorry."
Ferlito continued: "I want to apologize with the American girls. I didn't want to sound rude or racist. I love Simone and I am a huge fan of USA Olympics."
Ferlito wasn't the only person who had to apologize as Italian gymnastics federation spokesman David Ciaralli had to apologize to the Chicago Tribune for comments he made on Facebook.
"Carlotta was referring to a trend in gymnastics at this moment, which is going towards a technique that opens up new chances to athletes of color (well-known for power) while penalizing the more artistic Eastern European style that allowed Russians and Romanians to dominate the sport for years.," Ciaralli wrote per the paper.
He continued: "Why aren't there blacks in swimming?" Because the sport doesn't suit their physical characteristics. Is gymnastics becoming the same thing, to the point of wanting to be colored?"
Ciaralli told the Chicago Tribune that the comments were a lapse in judgment and sensitivity on his part.
"Possibly in saying this, I made a mistake, and I am sorry," Ciaralli told the newspaper. "What I said was my thoughts, not the official thoughts of the federation."
Biles family told USA Today that they were disappointed by all of the comments.
"I found it very insulting," Biles' father, Ron, told the newspaper. "The racial comment was really out of line.""It did bother her," Nellie, Simone's mother, told USA Todday. "I told her, 'Don't get roped into this' and, 'Don't let those comments ruin this moment for you. Just be proud of your performance and outcome.' People are entitled to their opinion. For her to go into this racism stuff is pointless, and (Simone) is not going to address it."
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