For the world, Simone Biles became an Olympic champion after the Rio Olympics. But record-breaking and history-making titles aside, the gymnast had humble beginnings. Starting out as a foster child with her siblings, the 26-year-old often recalled her struggles growing up in a troublesome family.
In her Facebook series titled Simone against herself, the gymnast spoke about a specific incident from her childhood that remained engraved in her mind throughout her life. This was before she found gymnastics a turning point in her life.
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When Biles was approximately three years old, she and her siblings entered foster care due to her biological mother’s struggles with drugs and alcohol. The four siblings living under their mother’s care often go hungry. That’s when the gymnast remembers her mother feeding a cat and she had strange feelings about it.
“They’ll feed this cat and I’ll be like, ‘Where’s my food?’
This developed a sense of indifference and innocent hatred for the species. Biles began to compare her and her siblings’ hunger to the cat’s fortunes.
“I think so [why] I don’t like cats… because this weird street cat was always feeding them. But she never fed us.
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Despite the difficulties, the gymnast managed to overcome every obstacle with the way she jumped flawlessly on the bars and beams. Eventually, her grandparents, Nellie and Ronald Biles, adopted her and her sister Adria and pushed her to try gymnastics.
Simone Biles accidentally discovered the biggest turning point in her life
Across numerous interviews, Biles has often spoken about how her gymnastics career began at a time when she wasn’t looking for anything serious. When Biles was six years old, she began showing off her natural prowess by mischievously imitating gymnasts. However, this little playful gesture got her in.
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She soon received a letter, supposedly from the trainers, wishing to test her abilities. Both Neely and Ronald thought it would be a good idea to draw out little Biles’ energy by doing gymnastics. Admittedly, no one went into this sport thinking they would be an important part of making history. And yet, here we are, with a heroine making waves with her expertise. Biles is truly a goat in the community, and fans can’t wait to see her at the Olympics again.