"I had such crazy upper body strength" - When Simone Biles opened up on her physical strength as young gymnast

Simone Biles once reflected upon her strength as a young gymnast. She was three years old when she was put into foster care along with her siblings, Ronald Jr., Adam, Ashley, Tevin, and Adria. Biles was enrolled in a gymnastics program as a six-year-old by her grandparents, Ronald and Nellie, after the adoption.

Biles began her gymnastics career after joining a day-care field trip. In her autobiography, Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance, Biles reflected on her strength as a young gymnast. She recalled a moment when she was six years old and climbing a rope during a training session.

While Biles was supposed to climb only ten feet, she reached fifteen or twenty feet as she was having fun, and it seemed easy and natural for her upper body strength. She further highlighted her still prevailing love for rope climbing.

"Adam remembers that I clambered up that rope and got to the required height of ten feet really fast—and then I looked around and kept climbing! I was like fifteen or twenty feet in the air, swinging from the rope up toward the ceiling and laughing. Even as a six-year-old, I had such crazy upper body strength that it was always easy for me.

"People at the bottom of the rope were shouting up to me, “Okay, Simone, you’re good, come down now. No, seriously, come down here!” It was so much fun! To this day, I love a rope climb," Biles wrote.

Simone Biles once remembered how her brother supported her when she replicated the same skills as him

Simone Biles of the United States at the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo via Getty Images)

Simone Biles once remembered her time with her older brother Tevin in foster care. The gymnast recalled how he encouraged her when she was able to flawlessly copy the gymnastics skills performed by him, even when she was two years younger.

Biles wrote in her autobiography:

"One memory I do recall is Tevin pushing Ashley and me on a swing in our foster family’s backyard," Biles wrote. "I used to imitate my brother by swinging high and doing backflips off that play set, soaring through the air.

"“Simone, you can fly! You can fly!” Tevin would yell, running to where I’d landed in a tumble on the grass. My brother was two years older, but I could do all the tricks he could."

Simone Biles continued her career as a young gymnast under her first and longtime coach, Aimee Boorman.