McKayla Maroney tells people not to take her moment as they defend Simone Biles

With the status of Simone Biles reaching Jordan-ian levels for not competing, one former gymnast is speaking out against those who claim she was FORCED to compete on a broken foot. McKayla Maroney, a 2012 gold and silver medalist, was honored to compete for Team USA, broken foot and all. And now she’s firing back at those who claim she did so against her will.

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In a statement released via Maroney’s Twitter account, the gymnast told her side of the story: "Just want to be clear that I was not FORCED to compete on my broken foot. I never said that. I trained my whole life for THAT moment and it was an honor to compete for my country. I had zero doubt I could perform a great vault for team USA, and I did. Staying was my choice."

Maroney’s statement references her silver medal performance at the 2012 Olympics, when she competed with a broken foot that later required surgery.

Her tweet featured a screen grab from two online publications whose headlines mentioned that she was forced to compete. "I’m not sure why the media spun my story this way. I never said I was forced to compete. I wanted to complete. Larry Nassar lied to keep me ON the team," tweeted Maroney.

In a follow up tweet, the retired gymnast made it clear she had no intentions of quitting the games and is offended by the media’s claims:

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"…The vault was one of the best moments of my life, please don’t take that away from me."