"Cry after she is finished"- When Simone Biles' mother Nellie opened up about getting emotional after witnessing the gymnast's performance

Simone Biles' mother Nellie Biles once shared how she felt a rush of emotions when her daughter finished competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Biles won four gold medals in Rio, setting the American record for most gold medals in women's gymnastics at individual Games.

Biles headed to her first Games in 2016, fresh off winning back-to-back World titles in 2013, 2014, and 2015. In Rio, she clinched her first gold medal in the team event as the only gymnast of the US team to compete in every apparatus.

Reflecting on the experience, Biles' mother Nellie, who adopted the gymnast from foster care when she was six, shared how she broke into tears every time the Olympian finished competing.

"All I do is hold my breath and cry after she's finished," noted Nellie Biles, the Olympian's biological grandmother.

The seven-time Olympic medalist then passed a fun comment, saying:

"And squeeze somebody... whoever she's holding the hands of.."

In her next Games edition in Tokyo 2021, Simone Biles withdrew midway through the event, citing 'twisties'. As a top-seeded gymnast, her abrupt decision to pull out garnered fan criticisms, as shared by the Olympian herself in the Netflix docuseries, 'Simone Biles Rising'.

In the fourth episode, Nellie Biles shared the story of her daughter's perseverance despite the hardships she faced after Tokyo.

"I know what Simone has gone through. Because I've been through this journey with Simone. Everything's gonna feel like, it all came together, regardless of turmoil, of tribulations, the hardships. You [referring to Biles] could still succeed in the end. Team final was emotional, but it's gonna be nothing like tonight. That'll be nothing like tonight. Tonight will be so worth it. It'll be so worth it," she said before Biles' all-around finals in Paris.

Biles collected three gold medals in her third Olympic appearance in Paris, winning in the team, vault, and all-around competition.

Simone Biles was grateful for her family in the audience when she performed in Paris

Simone Biles on the podium at the Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 10 - (Source: Getty)

At the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles performed in an empty arena without her parents in the audience. That was the first event Nellie and Ron Biles didn't attend to support their daughter. Having suffered with spatial awareness mid-air and executing 1.5 rotations instead of 2.5 in the vault, the 27-year-old dialed her mother to inform her about the decision to withdraw from the Games.

Unlike her experience of competing in an empty arena in Tokyo, the 11-time Olympic medalist was supported by her family at the Bercy Arena in Paris. Their presence worked as a stress reliever for the gymnast during her performances. Expressing gratitude, she said:

"I look at them in the audience just to 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," Biles said in the premiere of her eponymous docuseries.

Simone Biles concluded her 2024 gymnastic season with the Gold Over America tour.