Sport
Sinead Butler
Aug 15, 2024
Cover Media / VideoElephant
Simone Biles' biological mother, Shanon Biles, has asked the most decorated gymnast in history to forgive and reconnect with her.
The 27-year-old represented Team USA at the Paris Olympics where she won three golds in the team, all-around, and vault finals and a silver in the floor final.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Shanon - who threw a party out in the backyard of her house in Columbus, Ohio - following Simone's fantastic Olympic performance - shared her hope that her biological daughter will reach out to her in the future.
She hopes Simone can forgive her for abandoning the gymnast and her siblings while she was struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.
"It was hard to give up my kids, but I had to do what I had to do. I wasn't able to care for them. I was still using and [my father] didn't want me coming in and out of their lives when I wasn't right," she explained to the publication.
After Shanon's children were in and out of foster care, Simone and her sister Adria were later adopted by Shanon's father Ronald and his wife Nellie and lived with the couple in Texas, while Ronald’s sister Harriet in Cleveland took in Shanon’s two eldest children Tevin and Ashley.
“I was hard-headed. I didn’t care, screaming, ‘I want to see my kids, why you doing this to me?’ I didn’t understand at the time but years later, I understood why. I had to deal with me first," the 52-year-old reflected.
Now, Shanon is clean and sober but described herself as "a recovering addict and will always be an addict."
"But there's a way [to recovery]. You have to learn to stay away from people, places and things. Change your routine and live your life. Live your best life.'"
Shanon keeps in touch with Simone's biological father, Kevin Clemons who lives in Cleveland and has also previously struggled with addiction.
According to Shanon, he has no contact with his daughter but is similarly keen to reunite and build a relationship with the gymnast.
"We both want to see her. I talk to him all the time. He says, 'If you talk to Simone, give her my number. I'd love to talk to her.' But I can't even talk to her. I have to go through my dad."
Last year, Simone married NFL player Jonathan Owens at a courthouse in Houston where Shanon was not invited but shared that does keep in contact with Simone's sister Adria.
She also revealed that she has Simone's phone number but has never called her and believes it should be Simone's decision to reach out to her.
"'It hasn't happened yet, but I have patience. I'm waiting on her."
Elsewhere, Simone previously captured hearts with her 'beautiful' comment about her adopted parents following her stellar performance at the Paris Olympics.
"If not for my parents and adoption, I wouldn't be here today," she told Today Show's Hoda Kotb.
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