This summer, Simone Biles declared herself the greatest of all time. But the “mother” and “doll” she blew kisses to in the stands of the Bercy Arena or toasted her triumph with in a Parisian nightclub were not her biological parents.
No. Instead, it was her maternal grandfather and grandmother who were by her side from Rio to Paris.
At 6-foot-4, the perfect combination of small size, tremendous strength and mind-boggling agility underlies the ‘science’ of Biles’ golden career in the gym.
But it’s her mental strength and her ability to overcome any obstacle thrown at her that really sets her apart.
While Biles won three gold medals and a silver medal this summer in the French capital, thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean in Columbus, Ohio, her birth mother Shanon watched with mixed emotions as her daughter achieved extraordinary success. A success that she has absolutely no claim to.
When Biles was just six, she and her younger sister Adira went to live with their maternal grandparents after Shannon’s drug addiction led to her abandoning her children.
With seven Olympic gold medals and more than twenty world championship titles, Simone Biles is now the most decorated gymnast in the world
Her biological mother Shanon Biles remains estranged from the Olympian since abandoning her as a child due to her drug addiction
But if Biles had grown up around her mother, sports history would be very different today.
Shanon was an alcohol and drug addict who lived in Columbus and was unable to care for her four young children.
His father Ronald Biles was forced to intervene when Shanon’s life spiraled out of control due to her addictions, sending her children in and out of foster care.
When Biles was three, she and her younger sister, Adria, were taken in by her maternal grandfather Ron and his second wife Nellie Cayetano and moved to Spring, a suburb of Houston, Texas.
Three years later, Ron and Nellie formally adopted her and Adria. Shanon’s two oldest children, Tevin, now 29, and Ashley, now 34, were cared for by Ronald’s sister.
Biles’ biological father, Kevin Clemons, who lives in Cleveland, has no contact with his daughter and has struggled with his own addiction issues in the past.
Shannon, 52, has racked up a series of debts and has lived in the same red-brick row house on the corner of the crime-ridden Franklinton neighborhood for years.
Meanwhile, 1,000 miles away in Spring, Texas, Biles and Adira started calling Nellie and Ronald “Mom and Dad.”
Ronald and Nellie were forced to step in and adopt Simone when Shanon’s life spiraled out of control due to her drug and alcohol addiction.
Biles and her sister Adria, 22, a former gymnast, were raised by Ronald and Nellie
And it was in the Lone Star State that Biles’ path to stardom began. Something she has publicly acknowledged.
“Becoming separated from my birth mother and placed in foster care before I was officially adopted by my grandparents gave me a better route in life,” she confessed on a 2021 episode of her Facebook Watch Show, “Simone vs. Himself.’
Ronald and Nellie enrolled her in gymnastics at the age of six after she became captivated by the sport.
Nicknamed ‘Little Turtle’ by her grandmother because of Nellie’s insistence on going at her own pace, Biles embraced her individuality in the gym, according to the New York Times.
Marta Karolyi, former U.S. national team coordinator, eventually had Biles break the tradition of quiet and obedient gymnasts because letting her be herself is what worked for her.
And it worked. Now, with seven Olympic gold medals, more than 20 world championships and multiple endorsement deals to her name, Biles is one of the most decorated – and highly paid – female athletes in the world.
But while Biles sits on a $25 million fortune, her birth mother still lives on the poverty line.
Their relationship is understandably tense and although they have spoken, communication is limited.
The gymnastics icon won three gold medals and a silver medal in the French capital this summer
With her gymnastics success, Biles has deservedly earned a fortune of $25 million
Ahead of the Summer Olympics, Shannon admitted she hopes for the day Biles reaches out so she can ask her daughter for forgiveness for the past she can’t change.
‘It was hard to give up my children, but I had to do what I had to do. I couldn’t take care of them. I was still using and (my father) didn’t want me coming in and out of their lives if I wasn’t right,” she explained to DailyMail.com.
And she has opened up about her sadness at not having played a role in major life events like Biles’ wedding last year to NFL star Jonathan Owens.
She said: ‘I’d like to make it up to Simone in person – I’m just waiting for her and Adria. I speak more with Adria than with Simone.’
But Biles’ fortune is hard-earned. Her gymnastics talent has earned her sponsorships from brands such as Visa, gymnastics apparel company GK Elite and athleisure company Athleta, raking in millions.
But the view from the top wasn’t entirely picturesque either.
Biles is one of more than 150 gymnasts abused by former national team doctor Larry Nassar during his 30-year career.
In 2018, she came forward, joining more than 150 other women and girls whose testimonies sent Nassar to prison for life for sexual abuse.
The Olympic legend married NFL player Jonathan Owens (right) in 2023.
Shanon posed for a family photo with little Simone on her knee next to her two older children, Tevin and Ashley
USA Gymnastics has been torn apart by the scandal and Biles, as the face of the team, has had to relive the ordeal in the spotlight.
In 2019, it was revealed that the trauma of the attacks left her struggling with thoughts of suicide. She also previously revealed that she was taking anxiety medication to cope with the fallout.
But eventually the consequences became too great. At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, just two years later, disaster struck.
Biles, who competed in the 2021 Games after winning four golds in Rio in 2016, withdrew halfway through the individual all-round competition, plagued by Twisties – a condition that affects gymnasts, leaving them disoriented as they perform the complete turns. twisting and turning in the air.
She later hinted that the shock withdrawal was partly due to the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of the pedophile doctor.
At the time, she admitted she “slept all the time” because it was “the closest thing to death”, while revealing she was undergoing therapy to cope with the abuse.
The athlete returned days later to win a medal for the US in the team event, but permanent retirement seemed likely for the decorated gymnast.
Still, after a two-year hiatus, she was convinced to return by NFL player-husband Jonathan Owens.
Biles has amassed riches, climbed to the heights of fame and blinded millions
In Paris the circle was complete. With four more medals to add to her winnings, she was once again the golden girl.
Yet the Biles the world witnessed achieve greatness in Bercy Arena was one who took the mold and destroyed it. She rebuilt the image of the successful athlete.
She had had the courage to admit that she had lost direction. Better yet, she’d had the courage to admit that the mental fatigue on the mat was just as great as the physical, becoming one of the defining voices of athletes’ mental health.
Biles has amassed riches, climbed to the highest echelons of fame and dazzled millions with her mind-boggling skills. But throughout her career, and indeed her entire life, there has been one common theme that has forged her success: resilience.
Whether that grit and determination are enough to push Biles through to Los Angeles 2028 remains to be seen.