What comes to mind when you hear the name “Simone Biles”? Inspirational, hard-working, competitive, and Olympian are just a few words that you may think of. At just 25 years of age, Simone has won 30 Olympic medals (mostly gold), is currently tied with Shannon Miller for the most medals won by an American gymnast, and is the first woman in the United States to win a world medal for all the events that she competed in. Most of these things are well-known accomplishments and facts about Simone Biles. One can find nearly anything they want to find out about Simone and her gymnastics career with a simple internet search, but what many people may not know about Simone Biles is that she is an adoptee.
Simone did not have an easy start in life. Her mother could not take care of her and her siblings, which led to them spending most of their early childhood in and out of foster care. Unfortunately, her mother could never overcome her obstacles and get to a stable enough position to take care of her four children. To prevent the children from having to spend any longer in the foster care system, the family arranged an adoption plan for the four siblings; her two older brothers were adopted by their aunt so that they could stay close to their mother, and Simone and her sister were adopted by their grandparents. Still, since her grandparents were out of state, the process was complicated.
At age five, Simone and her younger sister were adopted by her birth grandparents, whom she began referring to as mom and dad. In her Autobiography, “Courage to Soar,” Simone discusses how it never felt like she was staying with her grandparents. Instead, it felt as though she was finally in her forever home. A memory that has stuck with Simone from childhood is the first time she went on a trampoline. When Simone was in foster care, she would watch the biological children in her foster home playing on the trampoline. She can recall thinking how
they looked so free and as if they were almost flying. It was against the rules of foster care to allow foster children on the trampoline, so she was only allowed to watch from the sidelines. One of the first things that Simone did when she arrived at her new home was jump on the trampoline that her grandparents had procured for her. It was on that trampoline that her love for gymnastics originated.
When Simone was six years old, she went to a gym for the first time. She fell in love with gymnastics and was enrolled right away. Since she was starting at an older age than the other gymnasts, she was behind in many ways in experience and skill set. However, Simone was a natural and began to catch up to her peers immediately. She dropped out of high school and fully committed her life to gymnastics. Through her dedication to the sport and ability to overcome obstacles, she became one of the most decorated female athletes in the world.
Simone attributes part of her success to her family’s never-ending love and support. She is currently taking time off from gymnastics to focus on her mental health. Although she is not actively competing, she continues to be an inspiration to gymnasts, women, African Americans, and young adoptees all around the world. One of her goals is to be an inspiration to young African American women in the way that Gabby Douglas was for her.
In her book, Simone comments on how she is never spiteful of her birth mother. Instead, she is thankful. Simone believes her mother did the right thing by placing her for adoption because it allowed her to have the opportunity to achieve the amazing things that she has in her short lifetime.
