"Ashley and Tevin missed Shanon a lot but I didn’t really mind" - When Simone Biles opened up about not missing her biological mother in foster care

Simone Biles once revealed that while her elder siblings, Ashley and Tevin, missed their biological mother Shanon after being taken to foster, she wasn't disappointed with her new situation. The gymnast and her younger sister, Adria, were later adopted by grandparents, Ronald and Nellie Biles.

Shanon and her husband Kelvin Clemons struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and were unable to take care of their four children. The Biles siblings struggled for food before being taken to foster care.

When they were taken to foster care, Biles was three years old, and while she recalls her elder siblings missing Shanon, the seven-time Olympic champion claimed she wasn't disappointed to be in a new environment and had a lot of fun there. In her 2016 memoir 'Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life In Balance', she wrote:

"In foster care, Ashley and Tevin missed Shanon a lot, but I didn’t really mind our new situation. We ate breakfast every morning and dinner every night, and we even went camping with our foster family once or twice. We always had lots of other kids to play with and even a furry little Beagle named Teddy. And our foster parents, Miss Doris and Mr. Leo, were nice to us."

While Biles didn't miss her mother, she held no animosity either and wished well for the 55-year-old. Expressing happiness over Shanon's efforts to stay clean in her memoir, the 27-year-old wrote:

"I feel a little bit sad for her. It’s not that I ever wanted to go back to live in Ohio, but I do wish she’d been able to make better decisions when she was younger. I’m glad that she’s now working so hard to stay clean."

The seven-time Olympic champion and her younger sister, Adria, were adopted by grandparents, Ronald and Nellie Biles, who raised her in Spring, Texas. Ashley and Tevin, on the other hand, were adopted by their grand aunt.

---

"It's a stress reliever" - Simone Biles on having her parents at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Olympic Games Paris 2024: Simone Biles in action - (Source: Getty)

Simone Biles was at her relentless best at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and a part of her confidence came from having her parents, Ronald and Nellie Biles, in the stands. The 27-year-old endured a tough campaign at the previous Olympic Games in Tokyo, winning zero gold medals.

Biles, who has made Ronald and Nellie her Mom and Dad, said their presence in Paris calmed her nerves down.

"I look at them in the audience just to just calm me down, it's just a stress reliever...To have this experience in Paris where I could talk to them, go see them, it meant the world to me because again, these are memories we’ll cherish together," Simone Biles said [via Inside Gymnastics].

The effect was visible in her performance as she added four medals to her illustrious tally, making it 41 Olympic (11) and World Championship (30) medals. Biles won three gold medals in team, vault, and all-around competitions and a silver in floor exercise.