When Simone Biles became a four-time Olympic gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Games, it drew attention to the gymnast. The people loved her and wanted to know everything about her. Naturally, the media extensively covered her life story.

Social services placed Biles in foster care when she was 3, along with her three siblings. Since her mother struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, she couldn’t take care of the four children.

Simone Biles’ mother felt wronged by her father

At age 6, Simone Biles’ maternal grandfather Ronald Biles, and his wife, Nellie, adopted her and her sister, Adria. Their other two siblings lived with Ron’s sister. Biles’ birth mother, Shannon, did not want to give her kids up, but she had no choice. 

She has expressed gratitude towards Ron and his wife, Nellie, for raising and caring for the gymnast. But she didn’t like the way her father portrayed her. “I feel like they are defaming my character. Because I know it happened. I was struggling back then,” she told TMZ.

“But I’ve gotten better, and life goes on. And that’s my past, and that’s where it should be left at. The past.” She continued, “I feel like he didn’t have to be so harsh about it. I am his firstborn, and he could have been a little bit more classy with it.… He didn’t have to put me under the bus like that.”

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Shannon Biles could not see her daughter for six years after the adoption. She claimed she’d been sober since 2007 and gotten her life together. So, when people judge her past, it makes her uncomfortable. Though in 2019, the police arrested her on the charge of assault, and the court put her on probation.

Biles reconnected with her birth mother

Simone Biles had no contact with her birth mother for a while in her childhood. But the duo has since re-established their relationship. Their dynamic may not be that of a mother and daughter, but they have tried to stay connected.

“When I talk to Simone, it’s a brief conversation, like, ‘I miss you, I love you, I can’t wait to see you, I’m proud of you, I’m watching. You go girl,’” Shannon told the Daily Mail. “It’s never anything personal. I want to tell her what really happened when I was younger, but I keep on waiting for the right time.”

While she would have loved to witness her daughter’s overwhelming victory in Rio, Shannon couldn’t afford the flight. She wants a closer relationship with Biles but prioritizes respecting her boundaries. “I’ll see her when I see her. I’d like to pick up the phone, talk, go out to lunch if that’s what she wants.” she continued.

Currently, Simone Biles is engaged to NFL safety Jonathan Owens, and the wedding is scheduled for next year. There’s no information on whether Biles’ birth mother will be at the wedding.

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