From the beginning, Simone Biles established herself as a skilled gymnast. Winning major international championships from the moment she started competing in the senior category, she showed an innate talent and the fruits of her rigorous training.?

And supporting her on her yellow brick road to gymnastics glory was her unconventional family. At age 6, Biles? maternal grandfather adopted her and her sister Adria after they spent some time bouncing around foster homes. Since she was very young, Biles didn?t understand that her life wasn?t ordinary.

When Simone Biles told her teammates about her adoption?

Simone Biles? birth mother, Shannon, struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, while her birth father was never in the picture. Since they couldn?t take care of the kids, Biles and her three siblings got placed in foster care when she was only 3.

Biles shared in an interview that because of her young age, her memories from that time are fuzzy. To her, adoption was the norm. So when she revealed her story to her teammates, their response surprised her.??A lot of people didn?t even know I was adopted until I told some of my teammates. And they were like, ?No way!???she recalled.

?I thought everybody was adopted, to be honest,??Biles?shared.??That?s what I seriously thought. So whenever I said I was adopted, they said, ?No way!? I said, ?Well, where did you come from????While the gymnastics legend and her sister started living with Ron and Nellie Biles, Ron?s sister adopted their other two siblings.

READ MORE:??Today, It?s Sh**?- Simone Biles? Secret Technique to Overcome Problems While Facing Stressful Day

She quickly took to calling Ron ?dad? and Nellie ?mom?. Raised with all their love and support, Biles never felt like anything was out of place. The 4-time Olympic champion didn?t see her birth mother again for six years. Now, they too have reconnected and established a relationship.?

Biles says her parents saved her

While Simone Biles? memories of the time before her adoption are fuzzy, she has shared her struggles with starvation.??Growing up, me and my siblings were so focused on food because we didn?t have a lot of food,??she?shared.??I remember there was this cat around the house, and I?d be so hungry. They would feed this cat, and I?m like, ?Where the heck is my food???

In 2017, Biles took a year from gymnastics. She competed in the reality TV series, Dancing With The Stars, where she talked about her adoption. ?My parents saved me,??Biles?said.??They?ve set huge examples of how to treat other people, and they?ve been there to support me since day one. There?s nothing I could say to them to thank them enough.?

WATCH THIS STORY:?Simone Biles? Gymnastics Tricks Get People Off the Seats- Here?s Some Moves Named After Her

With their support, the most decorated gymnast in World Championships history began taking classes at a nearby gym when she was 6. Starting later than her peers didn?t deter her in any way, and she breezed through the levels, learning at a rapid pace. She earned 32 medals in major international competitions and recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Biles has pushed the boundaries of the sport and inspired many young girls.