Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles is a legend in her sport.
While she was born with an incomparable natural talent for gymnastics, she aways says her parents, Ronald and Nellie Biles, were behind her success.
They are technically her biological grandparents, but they adopted Simone at age six after she and her siblings were placed in foster care.
Being separated from my biological mom, being placed in foster care before I officially got adopted by my grandparents, it just set me up for a better route at life,” Simone said of that time on her Facebook Watch series, Simone Vs. Herself. “I feel like I wouldn’t be where I am unless that turning point happened. I would still be Simone Biles, probably not Simone Biles that everybody else knows, the world knows. But I also believe everything happens for a reason, and I’m forever grateful for that because I definitely got a second shot at life.”
Here’s everything to know about Simone Biles’ biggest fans, Ronald and Nellie.
Who are Ronald and Nellie Biles?
The couple was married in January 1977. At the time, Ronald was serving in the Air Force. He met Nellie while stationed in San Antonio, Texas, according to The Undefeated. She was in nursing school. Ronald was already a single father to his daughter, Shannon, who is Simone’s biological mother. The couple went on to have two more children together, sons named Ronald Jr. and Adam.
Who are Simone Biles’ biological parents?
Simone was born in Columbus, Ohio, to Shanon Biles and Kelvin Clemons. Both struggled with addiction, and Shanon, who was raising her kids alone, couldn’t care for them properly. Simone shared on Dancing With the Stars in 2017: “Growing up, my biological mom was suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, and she was in and out of jail. I never had a mom to run to. I do remember always being hungry and afraid.”
At 3 years old, Simone entered foster care. “I don’t remember a lot about foster care, but I definitely knew that we had been taken from our biological mom, and then you just think you’re going to go back to her,” she shared on ‘Simone Vs. Herself.’
