On Tuesday, July 30, following her historic victory at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Simone Biles posted an Instagram story of Ronald Biles watching her participate.
“My dad & his binoculars is so freaking cute,” Simone says of her biological grandfather, who, with his wife, adopted the athlete, who is now an eight-time Olympic medalist, after she was placed in foster care when she was three years old.
Simone, the most decorated American gymnast, came out about her background, including how she and her brothers were starved while under the care of her biological mother, who was “struggling with dru.g and alco.hol abuse.” Continue reading to learn about this inspirational athlete!
Simone Biles, 26, was up in foster care with her three siblings, Adria, Tevin, and Ashley.
Shanon, Simone’s birth mother, was unable to care for her four children due to her alco.hol and dru.g addic.tion.
“It was difficult to give up my children, but I had to do what I had to because I couldn’t care for them,” Shanon told the Daily Mail, adding that the children’s father, who is also an add.ict, was miss.ing.
Simone spoke openly to CNN about her childhood experiences and the “hardships” she had with her addi.ct mother.
“When my siblings and I went into foster care, our biological mother was dealing with dru.g and alco.hol misuse. “I was three years old,” she told CNN.
She remembers hungry vividly even two decades later.
“I just remember, like, us as kids being so hungry and then I just remember this cat that would get fed and not like…us,” she says during the video. “Fortunately, we were able to stay together in one foster home…”It was some of the most enjoyable times ever. “We were just so excited.”
Adding to that excitement were the frequent visits from her grandparents, Ronald and Nellie Biles, who adopted Simone (then six), and her little sister Adria, who is now 24.
Life-changing rainy day
Then, a rained-out school trip completely transformed Simone’s life.
Simone confirms her mother’s memory and tells her fans that her first exposure to gymnastics was in “daycare on a school trip.”
“I don’t ever remember watching it on TV or seeing pictures in a magazine,” adds the athlete, who learned by “imitating” other girls.
Since then, Nellie and Ronald have attended every gathering, watching Simone destroy the competition.
Simone explained that she has a “bad habit” of looking for her greatest cheerleaders in the crowd and that she would be “kind of nervous” to compete without her parents’ presence.
“I don’t feel settled and secure until I know where they are in the crowd. I simply get so antsy, and seeing them in the arena calms me down.
Friends of the Children
In addition to being the most decorated gymnast in the United States, Simone promotes Friends of the Children, an organization that provides long-term caring care to foster children.
“It gives them love and support, which is what these kids need, so having that one constant means the world to them,” the group’s ardent supporter told CNN.
