Simone Biles has long credited her parents, Ronald and Nellie Biles, with helping her achieve her Olympic dreams.
When she was six years old, Simone Biles, along with her younger sister Adria, was adopted by their biological grandfather, Ronald Biles, and his wife Nellie.
The adoption took place three years after the sisters and their two older siblings were placed in foster care as their mother, who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, was in and out of prison.
Over the years, Biles, 27, the most decorated gymnast in history, has expressed gratitude to her supportive parents for giving her the stability and strength to become a champion.
“Appreciation post for my dear parents. Thank you for making sacrifices from day 1 so that I can achieve my dream. But most importantly, thank you for always being there for me through all the highs and lows,” the four-time gold medalist wrote in June 2021 alongside photos of her and her parents on Instagram.
“You guys are absolutely the best. I love you all,” she added.
Read on to learn more about Simone Biles’ loving relationship with her parents.
Ronald and Nellie Biles married in 1977
Ronald and Nellie Biles met in San Antonio when Ronald was serving in the Air Force and raising his daughter as a single father and Nellie was in college, according to a profile in Andscape.
The couple married on January 16, 1977 and welcomed two sons together.
On January 16, 2017, Simone Biles posted a throwback photo of her parents to Instagram in honor of their decades-long marriage. “HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY TO MY PARENTS. Couple of goals!”
Simone Biles and her siblings were placed in foster care at the age of 3
Simone Biles and her three siblings were placed in foster care when Simone was three because their mother, who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, was in and out of prison and could not care for them.
“I don’t remember much about foster care, but I definitely knew we were taken from our birth mother and you just think you’re going back to her,” Simone Biles said during the 2021 Facebook Watch series “Simone vs. Herself. ”
“We were very fortunate to be able to stay with our brothers and sisters, because often you are regrouped from house to house or you and your brothers and sisters are separated,” added the athlete, who remembers going without food sat. as a child when she lived with her biological mother.
During her appearance on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2017, the superstar gymnast recalled how her spirits brightened as a child when her grandfather, Ronald Biles, visited her foster family.
“Every time we visited my grandpa, I was so excited,” the athlete said through tears. “That was the person I always wanted to see walking into the foster home.”
Ronald and Nellie Biles adopted Simone Biles and her younger sister Adria
Ronald and Nellie Biles adopted Simone Biles and her younger sister Adria when Simone was six, the athlete revealed during the Facebook Watch series.
The sisters moved to Texas to live with their grandparents, while their two older siblings, Ashley and Tevin, remained in Ohio where they were adopted by their father’s sister.
When Simone Biles appeared on “DWTS” in 2017, she recalled her parents, who were in the show’s audience, asking her to consider them mom and dad when she moved in with them.
“Okay, you know what you called us grandma and grandpa? You can call us Mom and Dad now, if you want,” she recalled Ronald Biles telling her.
Simone Biles called her adoption a “turning point” in her life
The athlete called her adoption a “turning point” in her life, one that “set me up for a better route in life,” during an emotional moment in the 2021 Facebook Watch.
“I would still be Simone Biles, probably not Simone Biles as everyone knows, the world knows. But I also believe that everything happens for a reason and I am forever grateful for that because I have definitely been given a second chance at life,” she explained.
Simone Biles’ parents enrolled her in gymnastics classes when she was young
The seeds for Simone Biles’ Olympic career were planted when her parents enrolled her and her younger sister in gymnastics classes at the age of six.
Nellie Biles told People that it was “history from there.”
“She never missed a workout,” said the proud mother, “even when she was sick, I would tell her to stay home and she would say, ‘No, I have to go to practice!’ ”
They own the gym where Simone Biles trains
The superstar gymnast opened up to Health Magazine’s July/August 2021 issue about how proud she was that her parents owned The World Champions Center in Spring, Texas, the training facility where she trained for the Tokyo Olympics.
“Representation matters, and we want to inspire the next generation to pursue their passion,” she said of her parents who were Black gym owners.
“Kids can come in and we’ll be training in the back, and they can see that we’re just like them. It helps them understand that they can do it too,” she added.
Simone Biles said her parents are “great examples” of how to treat others
While reflecting on her adoption story on “DWTS” in 2017, Simone Biles said her parents’ love guided her life.
“My parents saved me,” she said. “They have set tremendous examples of how other people should be treated, and they have been there to support me from day one. I can’t say anything to them to thank them enough.”
She told viewers she hoped to express her feelings for her parents as she danced a Viennese waltz to Chris Tomlin’s “Good Good Father.”
“Even though there are no right words, maybe a dance will say it for me,” she said before her parents watched her moving performance through tears.
Simone Biles was initially afraid that future husband Jonathan Owens would meet her parents
Simone Biles recalled she hesitated before taking her future husband, NFL star Jonathan Owens, to meet her mom and dad.
“Mama Biles, I can’t tell you how scared I was to take him there,” she recalled during the 2021 Facebook Watch series about her life.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my god. You know, my parents are a bit harsh.” I was like, ‘So don’t worry if they don’t like you,'” she added.
Luckily, it all worked out and everyone loved Owens.
“Then he met my brother and my family. And then it really collided and I thought, ‘Wow.’ Now they invite him. One time he went there without me. But yeah, it’s great,” she said.
Nellie Biles helped her daughter plan her 2023 wedding
Simone Biles revealed to People in January 2023 that her mother helped her plan her upcoming wedding to Owens.
“She’s someone I can bounce things off of and she lets me do my thing while I figure out what works for us,” Biles said. “We are so excited to celebrate with our closest community, and she is a big part of that.”
“My mother gives me advice about everything,” she added. “I see both her and my father as role models in many ways, but also as examples of what a strong foundation of love and support looks like.”
Biles and Owens tied the knot in April 2023 in a small courthouse wedding, followed by a larger wedding in Mexico a month later.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
