Simone Biles is an American artistic gymnast. With 32 Olympic and World Championship medals, she is the most decorated gymnast of all time. Simone Biles is also tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals earned by an American female gymnast, with seven Olympic medals each. She is regarded as one of history’s greatest and most successful gymnasts.
Early Life
Simone Arianne Biles was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio. After her biological mother’s struggle with drug and alcohol abuse, she and her sister, Adria, ended up in foster care. They were later adopted and raised by their biological grandfather Ronald Biles and his wife, Nellie. Biles now refers to her grandmother as her “mom.”
Biles discovered her talents at a young age. On a field trip to a gymnastics center with her daycare, she started imitating the other gymnasts. She caught the coach’s attention there, and that coach then sent a letter to her parents requesting that they sign her up for gymnastics. This would mark the beginning of her gymnastics journey.
Simone Biles’ Family
Ron Biles
Ronald Biles is the father of Simone Biles’ biological mother, Shannon Biles. Ronald, who also goes by Ron, met his wife, Nellie, while she was attending college in San Antonio and he was serving in the Air Force. Ron and Nellie got married in 1977. At the time, he was a single father to Shannon, according to romper.com. He later worked as an air traffic controller before retiring. Ron and Nellie had two children together, Ron Jr. and Adam.
After Simone and her siblings were in foster care, Ron and his wife, Nellie, decided to adopt her, making him her father and legal guardian.
Simone told USA Today that she has never met her actual father and does not have a close connection with Shannon, her biological mother. She also remarked that if Ron and Nellie had not adopted her, she would not have been the Olympic gymnast she is today.
Biles’ Siblings
Simone Biles has three biological siblings and is the second youngest in the family. Her older siblings are Ashley and Tevin, and her younger sister is Adria. Adria and Simone were adopted by their parents when Adria was four years old and Simone was six years old.
Tevin Biles-Thomas controversy
Tevin Biles-Thomas, who served as a soldier in the U.S. Army, was arrested in August 2019 following a 2018 New Year’s Eve party shooting. He was charged with voluntary manslaughter, murder, perjury, and felonious assault.
In June 2021, he was declared not guilty of murder after a court said there was insufficient evidence to accuse him of triple homicide. A few weeks before his sister Simone Biles competed on the international scene in the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021, Biles-Thomas was released.
Simone Biles’ Gymnastics Career
In 2007, Simone Biles started competing as a Level 8 gymnast, and by 2011, she had already established herself as a junior elite gymnast. At the American Classic that year, she came third in the all-around and dominated the vault and balance beam events.
In 2012, she had a strong showing in the American Classic, the Houston National Invitational, the Alamo Classic, and the Secret U.S. Classic, topping the vault and the all-around events.
Biles quickly established herself as a powerhouse at the senior elite level, winning the all-around title at the 2013 U.S. P&G Championships. In the same year, she made history by being the first female African-American athlete to earn gold in the all-around at the World Championships.
In 2014, Biles built on her previous achievements, winning the U.S. and global titles in the all-around competition. She also won gold at the Secret U.S. Classic in the vault, floor exercise, balance beam, and all-around that same year.
In 2015, Biles became the first woman to win the world all-around title for the third time in a row, giving her ten gold medals in global competitions. She then continued training for Rio 2016 at the World Champions Centre in Spring, Texas.
Biles astonished gymnastics fans with an outstanding performance in July 2016, capturing the all-around title and first place in the floor exercise and vault. She then secured a position on the 2016 USA Olympic team.
Biles led the U.S. women’s gymnastics team to gold on August 9, 2016. She went on to dominate the Olympics, capturing the gold medal in the women’s individual all-around. Biles won gold in the women’s individual vault, but she fell short in the individual balance beam category. She fought to keep her position after a rare misstep, earning her the bronze medal with a score of 14.733. Biles resumed her Olympic winning streak in the individual floor exercise, winning gold in a spectacular display.
She returned to intense workouts and reclaimed her spot at the top of gymnastics after spending time off for most of 2017. She won the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in August 2018 after sweeping all four competitions. The next year, Biles outdid herself by becoming the first gymnast to complete a double-double dismount on the balance beam.
She was also the first woman to complete a triple-double on the floor exercise, ensuring her sixth U.S. national victory. In October 2019, Biles won her fifth individual all-around gold at the World Championships. This brought her total World Championship medals to an outstanding 25.
What happened to Simone Biles at the 2020 Olympics?
Because of mental health concerns, Biles withdrew from the women’s team gymnastics final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This decision saw Team USA awarded a silver medal in the end. She also withdrew from the uneven bars, the vault, the floor exercise finals, and the all-around. However, she competed in the balance beam final and won a bronze medal.
Simone Biles’ Height
Simone Biles has a small frame, which works to her advantage as a gymnast. She is 1.42 meters tall, which is 4 feet 8 inches. After accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington, D.C., in July 2022, Biles was actually mistaken for a child on a trip back to her home in Texas. The flight attendant offered her a coloring book thinking she was a kid, despite her being 25 years old.
Simone Biles’ Net Worth
According to celebritynetworth.com, Simone Biles is worth $16 million as of 2022. She has made her income from competitions she has participated in, such as the Olympics and other brand sponsorship deals and endorsements.
Personal Life
Jonathan Owens
Simone Biles is dating Jonathan Owens, an NFL player. Owens made his professional debut in the NFL in 2018, after signing with the Arizona Cardinals, as per 10Philadelphia. He was waived from the team after an injury forced him to miss the season. In 2020, he signed with the Houston Texans.
According to Oprahdaily.com, Biles and Owens met in March 2020 on Raya, a “celebrity dating app,” just before the COVID-19 epidemic began. He maintained he had no idea who she was but now is one of her loudest supporters.
Their first anniversary as a couple came in 2021, but they were separated because Biles was representing Team USA at the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She nevertheless found time to celebrate the event with a social media post.
On February 15, 2022, Biles made her engagement to Owens public. She has also stated that wedding plans are underway.
Stacey Ervin Jr.
Simone Biles was dating Stacey Ervin Jr. from 2017 to 2020. Ervin Jr. was a fellow gymnast. Biles announced the split in 2020, stating that “it was for the best.”
Simone Biles and Larry Nassar
On January 18, 2018, Simone confirmed on Twitter that she had been sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics physician. She further claimed that USA Gymnastics was complicit in the assault by allowing it to happen and then trying to cover it up.
She did not appear in court between January 16 and 24, 2018, claiming she was not emotionally ready to confront Larry Nassar again. In May 2018, ESPN announced that Biles and the other survivors would receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
She wore a teal leotard that she herself designed as a show of unity at the 2018 U.S. National Championships, which she said was meant to memorialize the survivors of Nassar’s sexual abuse.
Simone Biles testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 15, 2021, where she blamed the “entire system” for the “horror” she and others went through.
