Family is a major driving force behind Simone Biles‘ unprecedented athletic success, and you might have spotted a few of her relatives cheering from the stands while she competed in Paris.
Biles was adopted when she was six by her maternal grandfather Ronald and his wife Nellie who have always been the pillars of her support system, but her siblings are huge cheerleaders too. The Olympic champion has seven known siblings, but she’s closest with her younger sister Adria, whom Ronald and Nellie also adopted, and the couple’s two sons, Ronald Jr. and Adam. The quartet grew up together in Spring, Texas as the boys watched the girls take on gymnastics and begin competing in the biggest stages in the country, and eventually for Simone, the world.
Adria Biles
Adria Biles is two years younger than Simone, and is one of her best friends. The two are thick as thieves and the sister was a bridesmaid at Simone’s wedding. After the 27-year-old first enrolled in gymnastics at six years old, the 25-year-old soon followed. Adria went on to compete for ten years making it to Level 9, which comes just before the professional stage.
Reality TV fans might also recognize the younger Biles woman from the first season of the Jonas Brothers-hosted series Claim to Fame, where relatives of celebrities attempt to reach the finale without their identities being discovered.
Ronald Biles II
Ronald II is Ron and Nellie’s oldest son, making him both Simone’s uncle and her brother through adoption. According to his LinkedIn profile, he’s a Regional Sales Manager working in Spring, Texas, but his biggest passion seems to be his family. His daughter, Ronni, was a sensation at the Paris Olympics after dressing just like her auntie in the GK Elite “Star-Spangled Shine” Team U.S.A. leotard. Per Marca, the little one is also enrolled at the Biles’ gym World Champions Centre.
Adam Biles
Ronald and Nellie’s youngest son, Adam, is an Implementation Consultant at an HR firm in Tempe, Arizona. Back in the day, he was the general manager of the family business, AKA Simone’s training facility.
Ashley and Tevin Biles-Thomas
Ashley and Tevin Biles are Simone’s siblings through her mother, Shanon, and they were placed in foster care as little kids along with the gymnast and Adria. Shanon’s two oldest children were then adopted by Ronald’s sister, Harriet.
Both Ashley and Tevin have made headlines for problems with the law. The latter has been arrested in the past for driving under the influence, assault, drug-related charges and operating a vehicle while impaired, according to Radar Online and The Sun.
Meanwhile, Tevin was a murder suspect in a 2018 shooting but was acquitted of all charges in 2021 for insufficient evidence. He was initially identified by Cleveland police as the shooter, per CNN, but no witnesses were able to confidently place him at the scene of the crime. “Everyone says we look like twins, but we don’t see it,” Biles tweeted in 2017 alongside a few pictures of the two siblings hanging out. According to the Daily Mail, Tevin was in the Army in 2016.
Taron and Shania Biles-Walker
Taron and Shania are Shanon’s youngest children. They were featured in a 2016 Daily Mail article featuring one of Biles’ biological mother’s first-ever public interviews. They were 12 and 9 years old, respectively, at the time, now the brother is a sophomore business student at Norfolk State University and a wide receiver and kick returner for their college team, the NSU Spartans. According to the institution’s website, he made the AD Honor Roll in both semesters of his freshman year.
Published: Aug 14, 2024 06:47 pm