25-year-old Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast in history. Her family encouraged her to begin practising at the age of six. Through thick and thin, her mother has been her rock. While raising Simone, her mother, Nellie Biles, was sometimes a little harsh on her. Her mother’s harshness led the 25-year-old gymnast to the top of her career.
Sometimes it cannot be easy to practice gymnastics at such a young age. Gymnastics requires a high degree of flexibility as well as perfect mental stability. Yet, despite the struggles and obstacles, Simone has won the most number of championships, with four gold medals to her credit.
Simone Biles’ mother’s harshness
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During the peak of her career, Simone published her autobiography, Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance. The gymnast author describes her mother as her biggest support system throughout all of her hardships in her book.
But in one of the chapters, entitled Redemption, she reminisced about a bad experience from her practicing days. She talked about her coach, Aimee Boorman, who made her perform many back-to-back reps. Even though she had many difficulties with her coach, she felt grateful to her because she had saved Simone from her mother many times.
The four-time gold medalist described how her mother kept a distance from her and her sports. Simone wrote, “I don’t think she ever had much of a clue about my routines; she didn’t even know what the big skills were called. All she knew was what she saw me perform in competition. But she preferred it that way. She thought a little distance from my gymnastics allowed us both some necessary perspective. As she always told me, “I’m not your fan, Simone; I’m mom.” She certainly had her reasons for keeping her distance, but she has shown Simone her support from time to time.
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Precious mother-daughter bonding
When Simone was a child, she spent most of her time in foster care with her siblings. After meeting Ronald and Neille Biles, Simone’s doubts regarding finding a new family was gone. Throughout her gymnastics performances, they kept her spirits high. Since they are grandparents of Simone, they have done an outstanding job.
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However, there was a time when Nellie was unsure whether she would ever find a place in her daughter’s heart. In an interview with Women’s Health, she said she used to pray for some mother-daughter bonding. As Nellie described, a mother is someone who is willing to die for her children and who is capable of being tough when the need arises.
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