Simone Biles was in foster care at three, before becoming the most decorated American gymnast and mental health storm
SIMONE Biles bravely returned for the balance beam final on Tuesday after pulling out of the women’s gymnastics team final last week to focus on her mental health.
And the 24-year-old won showed true guts to win bronze and shoot down the naysayers.
Biles’ performance was even more astonishing considering the burden of expectation on her going into Tokyo 2020, forcing her to reassess her options.
“We have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do,” she revealed after quitting the floor competition.
Later, she took to Twitter to say she was suffering from ‘twisting’, a phenomenon that affects a gymnast’s spatial awareness.
She was criticised by Piers Morgan, who said it was a ‘joke’ that she pulled out.
While ex-Olympian Henry Cejudo said she ‘really needs to check herself’ and that ‘I think there’s time for a little bit of tough love’, ahead of her appearance on Tuesday.
However, the overwhelming response was one of respect and admiration, with Team GB gold medallist Max Whitlock calling her ‘incredible’ for putting her mental health first.
The last few years of Simone’s life have been tumultuous. In 2018, it emerged that she was one of a number of US gymnasts who survived sexual abuse from former team doctor Larry Nassar.
And it wasn’t easy from the start for America’s most decorated gymnast.
EARLY LIFE
Biles was born in Columbus, Ohio, to mother Shanon in 1997.
But she was sent into foster care when she was just three, as her mum suffered from drug abuse.
It wasn’t long before her maternal grandfather Ron Biles and his second wife Nellie Cayetano took Simone in, and they moved to Houston, Texas.
When she turned six, Ron and Nellie adopted her, as well as her younger sister Adria.
“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,” she revealed on her Facebook Watch series, Simone Vs. Herself.
“And 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.”
THRUST INTO THE SPOTLIGHT
It was at Rio 2016 that the world fell in love with Simone.
She won a staggering four gold medals and set an American record for most golds in women’s gymnastics at a single Games.
Ironically, it was the balance beam that was her worst event – earning a bronze.
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 Biles
But even golfer Rory McIlroy was aware of what that Games did for her in terms of fame.
“I live in the United States and anything that came on the TV, NBC or commercials about the Olympics it was Simone Biles,” he said.
“I mean it was the Simone Biles Olympics, right?”
So enamoured by their success story, Team USA picked her to be the flag bearer in the closing ceremonies – becoming the first American female gymnast to receive that honour.
A SPONSORS’ DREAM
After lighting up Rio, Biles returned to the US a hero.
She appeared on chat shows, posed for magazine front covers and began to amass her fortune – now estimated to be somewhere in the region of £5million.
Biles became an advertiser’s dream – signing up for deals with Kelloggs, Procter & Gamble, The Hershey Company and United Airlines.
She also became a spokesperson for Mattress Firm’s support of foster care homes and starred in a Beats by Dre headphones ad.
Last April, Biles signed up to Gap’s Athleta brand for a new sporting partnership – leaving Nike behind.
“I felt like it wasn’t just about my achievements, it’s what I stood for and how they were going to help me use my voice and also be a voice for females and kids,” she said.
“I feel like they also support me, not just as an athlete, but just as an individual outside of the gym and the change that I want to create, which is so refreshing.”
PRIVATE LIFE
Away from gymnastics, Biles’ personal life is the hot topic of gossip columns in the US.
She dated fellow gymnast Stacey Ervin Jr for three years, until they split in 2020, which she confirmed in an interview with Vogue.
However, it didn’t take long for Biles to move on – and the same year she began seeing NFL star Jonathan Owens.
The pair met on dating app Raya during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I didn’t know who she was,” Owens told Texas Monthly in June 2021.
“I just hadn’t heard of her, and when I told her that, that’s one of the things she liked.”
The pair now live happily together in Houston, Texas with their dogs.
SEXUAL ASSAULT
In 2018, Biles confirmed that former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar, D.O. had sexually assaulted her in an explosive post on Twitter.
$imoney, as she is nicknamed in the States, also slammed USA Gymnastics for having an alleged role in allowing the abuse to occur, and for subsequently covering it up.
“Most of you know me as a happy, giggly, and energetic girl,” she wrote.
“But lately I’ve felt a bit broken and the more I try to shut off the voice in my head the louder it screams.
“I am not afraid to tell my story anymore. I too am one of the many survivors that was sexually abused by Larry Nassar.
“Please believe me when I say it was a lot harder to first speak those words out loud than it is now to put them on paper. There are many reasons that I have been reluctant to share my story, but I know now it is not my fault.”
Nassar was jailed for up to 175 years for abusing Biles and over 150 girls and women, including charges for child pornography.
Simone refused to attend court hearings, saying “she wasn’t emotionally ready to face Larry Nassar again”.
But she and the other survivors were awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
And courage is what Biles has in spades. Whatever the future holds for her, she has opened up a debate on mental health in sport – highlighting that even the best can be affected.
What a credit she is for stepping back into the spotlight to win a medal at Tokyo 2020.