Simone Biles once reflected on her mother’s reflective words which she received during her gymnastics journey. Biles and her sister Adria were adopted by her grandparents Ronald and Nellie due to their biological mother Shanon’s incompetency to provide for them while struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.

Ronald and Nellie enrolled Biles and Adria in gymnastics classes when they were six and four, respectively. They played a crucial role in shaping Biles’ career, from attending all her competitions to making sacrifices for her intense training and homeschooling.

Reflecting on her mother’s key role in her autobiography, Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance, published in November 2016, Biles highlighted how Nellie attended her meets and said Biles’ talent was a gift from God.

“My family supported my gymnastics, cheering me on at meets both at home and away,” Biles wrote. “And now that I was winning more, they began paying closer attention. ‘Simone,’ mom said, hugging me after I’d earned the all-around highest score at the 2008 South Padre Invitational meet, ‘God truly gave you a gift.’

In her autobiography, Biles also opened up about her father’s role in her gymnastics career.

When Simone Biles described her parents’ role in her gymnastics journey

Simone Biles opened up about her father and mother’s role in her gymnastics career in her autobiography Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance. She described how Ronald was always at the gym, watching her practice while Nellie hardly attended any training sessions.

Biles further highlighted how her mother thought the “distance” would give them much-needed perspective.

“Everyone knew my dad at the gym. He would come early to pick up Adria and me so he could come inside to see what we were working on. But people hardly ever saw my mom. To tell the truth, I don’t think she ever had much of a clue about my routines; she didn’t even know what the big skills were called.”

“All she knew was what she saw me perform in competition. But she preferred it that way. She thought a little distance from my gymnastics allowed us both some necessary perspective. As she always told me, ‘I’m not your fan, Simone; I’m your mom.’

Nellie also cheered for her daughter at the 2024 Paris Olympics where she became the most decorated gymnast.