What Happened To Simone Biles’ Biological Parents
The Netflix sports documentary, Simone Biles: Rising focused on the gymnast’s professional and personal life, including her relationship with her parents. Simone Biles is one of the most decorated athletes of our time. Biles has won several competitions and medals, and broken many records, earning her place as one of the best gymnasts in the world.
One of the reveals from Simone Biles: Rising is her experience in the foster care system and how it shaped her view of life. The athlete has talked about her childhood in several interviews and has revealed how her adoptive parents have been a big influence on her life. Although Biles has extensively talked about her childhood experiences, she rarely delves into details about her biological parents.
Simone Biles Was Adopted By Her Grandparents, Ronald & Nellie Biles
Simone Biles was adopted by her grandparents, Ronald and Nellie Biles, when she was six years old. Biles and her three siblings were in foster care because their mother, Shanon Biles, couldn’t take care of them due to her struggle with alcohol and drug abuse. Biles spent three years in the foster care system before Ronald and Nellie adopted her and her younger sister Adria, while her older siblings Ashley and Tevin were adopted by Harriet, Ronald’s older sister (via Heart).
Ronald and Nellie have supported Biles since she started gymnastics at age six. The couple has been to every one of her competitions except the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which they couldn’t attend because of COVID. In Simone Vs. Herself, the gymnast explains why being adopted by her grandparents changed her life for the better. The athlete states, “Being separated from my biological mom, being placed in foster care before I officially got adopted by my grandparents, it just set me up for a better route at life,” (via PEOPLE).
Simone Biles Is Still In Contact With Her Birth Parents, Shanon & Kelvin
Not much is known about Simone’s biological parents and the athlete barely mentions them in Simon Biles: Rising. After Ronald and Nellie adopted Simone and Adria, Shanon Biles wasn’t allowed to see them for six years. In an interview with Daily Mail, the gymnast’s birth mother recounts how difficult it was to give up her children. In the interview, Shannon said, “It was hard to give up my kids but I had to do what I had to, I wasn’t able to care for them. I was still using and he didn’t want me coming in and out of their lives when I wasn’t right.”
Shanon and Simone are in contact, and her birth mother seems to support her, but Biles says the bond the two share is not as strong as the one she has with her adoptive parents (via WomensHealth). On the other hand, Biles doesn’t seem to have a relationship with her biological father, Kelvin Clemons. Like Shanon, Clemons also struggled with drug addiction. Biles’ biological father is still in contact with Shannon, and the two seem to have a cordial relationship. Shanon told Daily Mail, “He just called me Sunday. I said, ‘I’m watching Simone. Are you watching her? Are you watching her? Call me back later,” (via Daily Mail).
After stepping away from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to mental health struggles, Simone Biles embarks on a transformative journey. The docuseries follows her as she overcomes past traumas, rebuilds her gymnastics skills, and prepares for a triumphant return.
