Riley Gaines and her husband Louis Baker are preparing to welcome their first child, a baby girl, together in September.
Gaines, 26, made the announcement on Instagram on Saturday night, which comes days after she was enbroiled in a public feud with Simone Biles over trans athletes in women’s sports.
‘Surprise! we’re 26 weeks pregnant,’ she wrote in the post. ‘God is SO good all the time.’
Gaines, a former swimmer who now hosts an OutKick podcast, married Baker in 2022. But she hit the spotlight last week after Biles hit out at her for criticizing a Minnesota softball team that were competing with a trans pitcher – Gaines has consistenty campaigned against trans athletes competing in women’s sports.
‘You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser,’ Biles said, referencing the 2022 NCAA Championships where Gaines competed against trans swimmer Lia Thomas.
‘You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!! But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!’
Riley Gaines’ pregnancy announcement comes days after her public Simone Biles feud
The seven-time Olympic gold medalist then got personal in a follow-up tweet to Gaines, saying: ‘bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.’
Four days later, Biles publicly apologized and Gaines accepted.
‘I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport,’ BIles wrote. ‘The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for.
‘These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don’t have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect. I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports.’
According to Fox, Gaines first announced she was pregnant during a talk at Turning Point USA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit in Texas.
‘How many men do you know that have this?’ Gaines said as she showed the audience her baby bump.
Her husband Barker added: ‘The next generation that our little girl is going to be a part of, that is who you all are fighting for and who Turning Point is fighting for. And so from a father-to-be, thank you, keep fighting… and thank you.’
Gaines’ campaigning has even won the respect of Donald Trump, who invited her to be present at the Oval Office when he signed his executive order to prohibit trans athletes competing in women’s sports.
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