How Simone Biles overcame abuse hell & ‘twisties’ battle to become Olympic GOAT… as shamed paedo doc rots in jail
SHE is the most decorated gymnast in history with a host of gold medals and world championships to her name.
But Simone Biles‘ status as the greatest of all time did not come on a silver platter.
The 27-year-old endured a challenging childhood, battles with her mental health and abuse at the hands of an evil doctor to get to this point.
Earlier this week, she made history at the Paris Games by becoming the oldest gymnast to win the All-Around gold medal since 1976.
She now has a record-breaking nine Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals and celebrity fans including LeBron James and Beyonce, have hailed her accomplishments.
And she has gone from poverty-stricken start, living on cereal drenched in water, to being one of the richest athletes with a £12.4million fortune.
Here, we look at how Simone fought through her struggles to become the most successful gymnast of all time.
Tough start
Born in Ohio, in 1997, Simone had a poor start to life, living with a mother who was struggling with substance abuse. At six, she and her siblings were taken into care and sent to a foster home.
Speaking about her time in the system, she said: “I don’t remember a lot about foster care, but I definitely knew that we has been taken from our biological mom, and then you just think you’re going to go back to her.”
She added: “We were very fortunate that we actually got to stay with our siblings because a lot of the time you either get regrouped from home to home to home or you and your siblings get split up.”
Simone also recalled her childhood hunger and how she and her siblings didn’t have much to eat.
“Growing up, me and my siblings were so focused on food because we didn’t have a lot of food,” she said.
“I remember there was this cat around the house and I would be so hungry. They would feed this cat and I would be like, ‘Where the heck is my food?'”
She also recalled going to an uncle’s house to eat, saying: “They gave us cereal. But we didn’t have any milk, couldn’t afford milk. So we just put water in it. And he was like, ‘Look, it’s the same thing.’ And we were like, ‘Nope, it’s not, but okay nice try.'”
When she was six, her maternal grandparents, Ron and Nellie Biles, adopted her and her sister Adria. She calls them Mom and Dad and credits them for her incredible success, as they encouraged her into gymnastics at a young age and even opened a gym so she would have stability for training.
In a recent tribute she said: “Thanks for making sacrifices since day one so I can live out my dream. But most importantly, thanks for always being there for me through all the highs and lows.”
Evil predator
In 2018, she was one of several women, including Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, who came forward to speak out about the abuse they suffered under former US women’s gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
More than 130 women have since accused him of inappropriate or sexually abusive behaviour. It was the largest sexual abuse scandal in the history of sports.
Writing on Twitter at the time, the then 20-year-old emotionally explained: “I too am one of the many survivors that were 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.”
Testifying at a hearing into the crimes of the evil predator at the US Senate, she said: “I blame Larry Nasser, and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse
“If you allow a predator to harm children, the consequences will be swift and severe.”
Earlier this year, she opened up about how she still deals with the trauma of the abuse.
Speaking on a podcast, she said: “I wanted to be in a good enough place and to have the proper help lined up before I spoke out because that stuff was so traumatizing.
“And I truly don’t understand how I did what I did under those circumstances and how I put on a face.”
Larry was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting at least 265 girls and young women.
In 2017, he was sentenced to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Later the same year he was sentenced to another 40 to 175 years for abusing children.
In 2022, Simone and other gymnasts sued the FBI for $1billion saying the organisation failed to stop the vile doctor.
Last year, it was reported that he had been stabbed more than ten times by another inmate at a Florida prison. A prison union leader said he was stabbed twice in the neck, twice in the back and six times in the chest.
He is said to have made a lewd remark about female Wimbledon players before he was attacked by Shane McMillan.
Earlier this year, it was reported that he has now been seeking protection from Mexican gangsters and paying for their security with sexual favours.
A former inmate in the prison described him as a “scared little church mouse” who also paid “a couple hundred dollars a month” to the gang members.
Tokyo withdrawal
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Simone was forced to withdraw from the competition when she suffered the twisties.
The term is described by the Cleveland Clinic as “a mental block that creates a dangerous disconnect between mind and body while gymnasts are airborne.”
When landing, they can easily hurt themselves, a fear Simon expressed before pulling out of the team, citing her mental health.
In her documentary Simone Biles Rising, she spoke about what she went through. “As soon as I did it, I was like, ‘You gotta be s****ing me.’ Like, right now, really right now, we’re gonna do this?”
Simone’s withdrawal led to a huge backlash from the media and the general public despite her explanation that she could have injured herself.
It led to the breakdown of her mental health and her decision to take a break from the sport for two years.
Speaking about her struggles at the time, she said: “We have to protect our body and our mind… it just sucks when you’re fighting with your own head. Whenever you get in a high-stress situation, you kind of freak out.”
Her decision to prioritise her mental health was lauded by athletes such as Michael Phelps, who has opened up about his own struggles.
Her teammate Jade Carey, who stepped in to replace her, said: “When Simone withdrew from the team final at the Olympics, I saw pure strength.
“It’s hard to take a step back and truly take care of yourself in our sport and that is what she showed the world.”
We have to protect our body and our mind… it just sucks when you’re fighting with your own head. Whenever you get in a high-stress situation, you kind of freak out.
Simone Biles
Sports journalist Joan Ryan, who said she had “never seen an athlete like Simone, said: “Here’s this incredible woman who just seemed like she could do anything – a superhero.
“And yet that sport was corrosive enough and abusive enough that she really had to step away for her own mental health.”
Since the Tokyo incident, she has worked to get her mental health back on track. She has said: “I worked on myself a lot, I still do therapy weekly, and it’s just been so exciting to come out here and have the confidence I had before.”
Finding love and big comeback
During the Covid lockdown, Simone and NFL player Jonathan Owens met on the celebrity dating app Raya.
Explaining how their connection came about, she explained: “He would say I slid into his DMs.
“I saw him and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s pretty cute,’ so I said hi … and then I saw that he was in the Houston area, so we started chatting a little bit, and then we went to hang out a week or two later.”
Jonathan said he had no idea who she was when he saw her on the app. In a podcast interview, he said: “I had never really paid attention to gymnastics, so it piqued my curiosity.
“I didn’t know who she was at the time but the first thing that I saw was that she just had a bunch of followers. So in my mind, I’m like, ‘OK, she got to be good.'”
Jonathan proposed in 2022, and the pair wed at a romantic ceremony in Cabo, Mexico, a year later.
The Chicago Bears star came under fire when he suggested that he was the “catch” in their relationship, on the Pivot podcast.
Despite Simone initially laughing off the comments, the backlash was relentless and ultimately “hurt” Simone.
Speaking on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy Podcast, she said: “So, whenever he did that interview, I thought everything was OK.
“And then I go on Twitter, and everybody’s like, ‘Divorce this man, he’s mean.’ I’m like, he’s the sweetest. He praises the ground that I walk on. Truly, I’ve never met a man like him.”
She added: “So I thought it was hilarious at first and then they hurt my feelings. One night, I broke down and I’m like, why are you guys talking about my husband like this?
“You don’t know him, you don’t know who he is, and if anybody’s met him, they know he’s the sweetest guy and will do anything for anybody.”
During this year’s Olympics, Jonathan has been a constant support for Simone and has been seen celebrating her wins. He was even spotted intensely watching and writing down her score points.
I go on Twitter, and everybody’s like, ‘Divorce this man, he’s mean.’ I’m like, he’s the sweetest. He praises the ground that I walk on
Simone Biles
He was also spotted wearing a custom-made T-shirt with her pictures printed on it to celebrate her latest win – although some slammed him for wearing her medal round his neck.
From trauma and abuse, Simone has now had one of the biggest comebacks in the Olympics and has proved to be one of the highlights of the competition.
Speaking about her stunning return to form at a press conference, she said: “Three years ago, I never thought I’d step foot on the gymnastics floor again just because of everything that had happened.
“But with the help of [my coach] Cecil, I got back in the gym and worked really hard mentally and physically. Even this morning at 7:00 a.m., I saw my therapist.
“And there’s a time change so she is so amazing for allowing me to do that these couple of days here in Paris.”
“I was just making sure I’m mentally well and I think you see that out on the competition floor.”
'Mother hen' Biles
Simone Biles' first coach Aimee Boorman exclusively told The U.S. Sun that she thinks Biles will be spurred by a new role this year.
“Having younger teammates benefits her because she has stepped in as the mother hen figure,” said Aimee.
“And so she has to tell them to stay calm. You’ve got this. You’re prepared. And so as she’s saying it, she’s also hearing it.
“You always have tiny kids that come into the gym, but they’re never ripped like Simone was,” she said.
“I know she was very self-conscious about it growing up. But from a coaching perspective, it was great.
“I didn’t think that Simone would be a multi gold medal athlete straight away.
“But she did stand out because she was very tiny, but very muscular.”