
īiles attended Benfer Elementary School in Harris County. Biles holds Belizean citizenship through her adoptive mother and refers to Belize as her second home. Ron's sister, Shanon's aunt Harriet, adopted the two oldest children. In 2003, the couple officially adopted Simone and her younger sister Adria.

In 2000, Biles' maternal grandfather, Ron Biles, and his second wife, Nellie Cayetano Biles, began temporarily caring for Shanon's children in the north Houston suburb of Spring, Texas, after learning that his grandchildren had been in foster care. Her birth mother, Shanon Biles, was unable to care for Simone or her other children – Adria, Ashley, and Tevin. Early life and education īiles was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio, the third of four siblings. She is the tenth female gymnast and first American female gymnast to win a World medal on every event, and the first female gymnast since Daniela Silivaș in 1988 to win a medal on every event at a single Olympic Games or World Championships, having accomplished this feat at the 2018 World Championships in Doha. She is the sixth woman to win an individual all-around title at both the World Championships and the Olympics, and the first gymnast since Lilia Podkopayeva in 1996 to hold both titles simultaneously. She is the female gymnast with the most World all-around titles (5). She is also a three-time World silver medalist (20 on vault, 2018 on uneven bars) and a three-time World bronze medalist (2015 on vault, 20 on balance beam).īiles is the gymnast with the most World medals (25) and most World gold medals (19), having surpassed Vitaly Scherbo's record 23 World medals by winning her 24th and 25th, both gold, at the 2019 competition in Stuttgart. She is also a five-time World all-around champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019), five-time World floor exercise champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019), three-time World balance beam champion (2014–2015, 2019), two-time World vault champion (2018–2019), a seven-time United States national all-around champion (2013–2016, 2018–2019, 2021), and a member of the gold medal-winning American teams at the 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

Her partial withdrawal, focus on safety, mental health, and perseverance were praised. She ultimately won a silver medal with the US team and a bronze medal on the balance beam. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where Biles was favored to win at least four of the six available gold medals, she withdrew from most of the competition due to struggles with " the twisties", a temporary loss of air balance awareness. Īt the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Biles won individual gold medals in the all-around, vault, and floor bronze on balance beam and gold as part of the United States team, dubbed the " Final Five". In 2022, Biles was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most decorated gymnast in the history of the Gymnastics World Championships, and is considered by many sources to be the greatest gymnast of all time. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast and is the equal ninth-most overall. Simone Biles Owens (born Simone Arianne Biles March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast.
