Simone Biles isn't your average athlete.
In fact, she's far from average.
Standing at four feet, eight inches, she's been tearing up the gym floor since she was
about 6 years old.
Let's take a look at how she transformed from a tiny acrobatic wonder to gymnastics' next
big thing.
When Biles was just a toddler, she was faced with a significant lifestyle change.
She and her siblings were taken away from their biological mother, who was suffering
from drug and alcohol abuse.
She moved in with her grandparents, whom she considers her true parents.
But Biles didn't live with her grandparents right away.
For three years, she and her siblings were in and out of foster homes.
When she was six, her grandparents made the decision to adopt her and her siblings.
Biles wrote about her own fostering experience and the value of fostering in general for
an essay published by CNN.
She touched upon the importance of finding a purpose while growing up, saying,
Biles' gymnastics career began during a fateful daycare field trip to a gym.
The original plan was to visit a farm, but rain rerouted the group to a nearby gymnastics
facility for the day.
From that moment on, she was hooked.
Her mother, Nellie, recognized her immediate ability to copy the moves of older girls with
wild precision.
She told Sports Illustrated Kids,
Nellie also shared that her daughter was always pushing herself to achieve more, even when
playing with her siblings, which Simone also remembers clearly.
"I remember my brother would flip off the swing and like try to show me and then I would
try to copy him.
And then I started flipping off mailboxes."
It turns out that even one of the best athletes in the world has to face body shaming.
After a 2013 gymnastics meet, Simone Biles overheard a coach say her alleged poor performance
was due to her weight.
"I feel like I'm a very petite young girl and so to hear that at such a young age, it
just kind of shocked me."
The fact that Biles isn't incredibly strict with her own diet might actually be a positive
factor towards her success.
In a New Yorker profile of the gymnast, her coach Aimee Boorman revealed that she's never
closely monitored what her young charge eats.
Many believe that Biles' healthy figure and avoidance of any major injuries are partly
thanks to her flexible diet.
The athlete has a message for those struggling with body image.
"I would say everyone was built with a body and they're blessed, so you have to be confident
in whatever God gave you because that's you."
After achieving success at the 2013 USA Gymnastics National Championships, Biles continued to
propel into gymnastics super-stardom.
In 2014, she was crowned Sportswoman of the Year, along with famed ice dancer Meryl Davis,
at the Women's Sports Foundation's Annual Salute to Women in Sports.
Her crowning came just a week after competing in the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastic Championships,
where she won an impressive four gold medals.
Before winning the award, Biles spoke to journalist Amy Rosewater about the possibility of earning
the title, saying,
By joining the ranks of past winners like fellow gymnast Gabby Douglas, tennis star
Serena Williams, and swimmer Missy Franklin, Biles was destined to continue achieving success.
Biles came to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics with the high expectations of millions on
her shoulders, and she did not disappoint.
She walked away from the Games with five medals: one bronze and four gold, including the women's
all-around.
This success instantly made her one of the most talented and famous individuals in the
world.
She won the all-around title by just 2.1 points over her teammate Aly Raisman.
After the win, she told reporters,
Biles' win made her the fourth American in a row to win the Olympic all-around title,
which gave the United States the longest winning streak of any country ever in the event.
At 21 years old, Biles emerged victorious once again at the 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
She won every one of the available five gold medals, including the women's all-around.
This performance made her the first-ever female athlete to win five all-around titles, as
well as the first woman to win all five gold medals since 1994.
At first, Biles' participation in the upcoming 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo was uncertain.
She had taken a whole year off in order to travel and enjoy her successes.
But with this fantastic feat under her belt, she's now preparing for an Olympic return.
Catch her on the flip side in 2020!
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