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2013 Secret Classic Competition

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Simone Biles - Floor Exercise - 2013 Secret U.S. Classic

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2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

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2013 All-Around Champ Simone Biles - Universal Sports

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The Olympics in Rio of 2016

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Simone Biles' Rio 2016 individual all-around Final routines | Top Moments

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The Pacific Rim   Championships in 2016

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Simone Biles (USA) - Floor - 2016 Pacific Rim Championships Team/AA Final

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The bee incident

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Simone Biles Attacked by bee at World Championships!

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"After all, it was Mom and Dad who'd first given me the courage to dream such a big dream and to soar higher than i'd ever imagined I could." (246)

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                                          #20 Gratitude

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                                          #20 Gratitude

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For her final Olympic assignment, Simone was voted to carry the American flag down the closing ceremony. She felt really honored to do this. When the time came, she went through the parade being the lead and keeping her head high. At that moment, she felt at peace and she also felt like she has not wasted her talents at all and also the opportunities that God have given her. She later reminisced about the experiences she had before reaching the highest point of her career. She expressed how her parents was a huge mentor to her and without them she wouldn't be at the place she is now. She also said that even if things didn't go her way, she wouldn't change any of it. And even if she failed to reach the nationals team 5 years back, it had forced her to become a better gymnast.

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                                                                  #19 The Final Five

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                                                                  #19 The Final Five

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Simone has been chosen by Martha to be in a team of the girls who won including herself at the Trails in San Jose. A week later, Simone was practicing at the bars at the WCC gym but she kept on failing because of how it was new to her. Later that day, Simone was frustrated and started to cry because she had to go to Rio soon for the Olympic training camp but yet she was bad at practicing at the bars in the gym and she also thought about everyone's high expectations of her. She ended up talking with her psychiatrist over the phone and he consoled her that everything will be fine. Next, Simone was talking with her newly selected team for the Olympics and they were talking about what should they name their team. They ended up naming their team "The Final Five" because of the 5 members in the group and to pay tribute to Martha because of how she was retiring soon which also meant that they were the last team she was mentoring. They were heading to Rio and Simone told everyone that this may be the hardest training they will ever get. On July 26, 2016, Simones plane had just taken off to Rio. During her stay in Rio, Simone and her team met a lot of famous athletes. On August 9, 2016, Simone's team flawlessly did their routines and won team gold, Simone earned a gold medal and she was on the podium but the event finals are yet to come. It was the day of the Olympic all-around competition, Simone and Aly were giving each other pep talks before they did their routine. Before Simone performed, she reminded herself that it's just like practice. Simone got first place for the vault. For uneven bars, Simone thought she did well but it was lower than she expected, nonetheless Amiee reassured her. Next up was beam, Simone did so well that the crowd was cheering for her loudly and the judges gave her a good score, Simone was once again in the lead. Lastly, Simone had to do tumbling, the one she was most confident in. After she performed, it turns out that she perfectly executed it and got a perfect score which made her win the gold medal. The audience was cheering on for her as well as her parents are crying tears of joy. Simone later became the first American woman to ever win gold in that event at the Olympics. On the last day, Simone performed her final floor routine and won another medal. After the event was over, Simone's team met up with Zac Efron and they were completely over the moon about it. Simone was also acknowledged by a lot of celebrities including the president. She couldn't believe that she was getting so much recognition.

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"Okay, Simone, you're giving up one of your dreams for an even bigger dream you're chasing---Olympic success." (212)

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                                                     #18 Bora-Bora

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                                                     #18 Bora-Bora

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Simone was at UCLA during a two-day recruitment trip with her team. She absolutely loved the campus over there. Later, when Simone returned home, she let the UCLA coach, Val, know that she was committed. But something bothered Simone, although all her life she wanted to be in college gymnastics, she also wanted to be in the Olympics one day. After a lot of thought and a lot of advice from her family and friends, Simone finally made the decision to go professional in July of 2015 so she can someday make it into the Olympics. Although it was a hard decision, Simone told herself that college gymnastics was a small dream but competing in the Olympics was an even bigger dream. Now that Simone is going professional, she hired a financial advisor agent to help with her sponsors and schedule. Later, Simone began talking with Ron about her agent. Simone told Ron that the agent asked her what she wanted to do in life. Simone's answer was to go to Bora-bora and Ron told her that she can do whatever she wants to do In life. Next, Simone was at the Pacific Rim Championship in April 2016, and she was doing everything well but she soon realized that Martha really set her up for success with all the hard work that she had to go through. Simone has been training for several days and during one night her teammate, Aly Raisman, gave her some advice when Simone asked whats her best tip for doing well in Rio and Aly responded that it was just another world championship event and to do exactly what she did in practice.

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"'Wake up, Simone. You're only the three-time gymnastics world champion." I stared at Adria, realizing just how big a deal my win at Worlds had been." (202)

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                                          #17 Staying Grounded

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                                          #17 Staying Grounded

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While Simone was standing on the podium at the World Championship competition, a bee suddenly was buzzing in her bouquet of flowers. This made her freak out and throw the flowers on the ground. The other winners were laughing at her reaction and they all ended up posing for pictures which ended up all over social media and became a really popular meme. After the competition was over, Simone realized that she shouldn't always be too serious when she's performing because when she is serious, she starts to struggle with her performances due to overthinking. But when she has fun doing it and tries her best, she does not struggle as much. In September 2015, Simone was with her women's US team to compete in the Worlds competition again for the third year in a row. If Simone won and got all-around gold again, she would be the first woman in gymnastics to do so. During her routine, Simone struggled a little bit but she eventually did well enough to win all-around gold again for the third consecutive year making her break a record. When Simone came home, her parent's gym has been officially completed. Simone also went to the mall with her sister but she noticed that everyone was staring at her and she didn't understand why. Eventually, someone came up to her and asked for a picture. That's when Simone finally acknowledged that she was getting recognized by the public.

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"'Well, why don't i build my own gym?' she said. Aimee started at her. 'That way, Simone and Adria can have a safe and well-equipped place to train and they wont have to gym hop. I really don't want my girls to have to do that.'" (184)

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                                      #16 The Warehouse

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                                      #16 The Warehouse

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Back when Simone was performing at the secret classics in 2013, she suffered from an ankle injury and had to undergo surgery to fix it. Fast forward to February 2014, Simone was at the gym when suddenly Aimee told her and her team that they're having a free day which was unusual and it seemed like Simone was the only one that noticed. Later, Aimee and coach Tomas broke out in an argument and Aimee ran out of the gym. It turns out that Aimee had quit her job at the gym. Simone and her sister, Adria, were sobbing because it was so sudden for someone that was fully committed to her job just for her to quit. When Simone and Adria returned home, Aimee was there and she was talking to their mom. Simone's mother considered buying a warehouse to make a gym for the girls. After that idea was brought up, they were fully committed to making it work. They soon bought another warehouse to make another gym because the initial one will take up until 2015 to be finished being built. When competition season came up in 2014, Simone participated and suffered from a shoulder injury. This made Simone lay off gymnastics for about 6 months. After being healed, Simone competed in the World Champions and in the end, her team won the all-around World Championship title.

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"In that moment, the full force of what i had done finally hit me. I had competed at the Worlds. And won. I really just did that!" (176)

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                                                   #15 Just Like Practice 

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                                                   #15 Just Like Practice 

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Before the American cup happened, Simone was dreaming about being selected for the world team. But when she got chosen, it was a jaw-dropping moment for her. While she was packing for the trip to the world competition, she got her collection of turtle figurines for luck. When she arrived at the competition, she had an idea to meet Martha on the sidelines before every event because if she was in her sight then Simone wouldn't mess up. After every routine Simone does, her confidence grew alongside her team. But when she grew anxious at times, she would talk with her teammates to give each other encouraging words. During the competition, she even pulled off her own custom-made move called the "biles." At the end of the finals, she saw on the scoreboard that she won the 2013 artistic gymnastics world championship. At that moment, nothing felt real. The morning after the championship, there was a tweet spreading around where a gymnast that was in the competition with Simone, that had made a racist remark. It didn't phase Simone at all and her mom even reassured her not to get caught up in all the drama. But then it all escalated when a journalist called Simone's dad and he gave him a statement saying that Simone couldn't care less about the drama. But in the end, it all blew over. After that, Simones parents hosted a huge party about her win, there were over 400 people attending and Simone was completely overwhelmed by this. She later isolated herself In her room to cool off and she later came back to reality and acknowledged that she actually won the championships which made her bawl because of how proud she was of herself.

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                                  #14 Saving Graces

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                                  #14 Saving Graces

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Simone was at the 2013 Secret Classic competition. Beforehand, Simone knew she didn't practice enough and that she was lately slacking off of her practices. But she didn't really seem to care because she had this mindset that she would get a perfect score regardless of how much she practiced but she knew that was all delusion. But now in the present, she's about to perform her routines and the aftermath didn't look so good. Simone wasn't doing so well during her routines she kept on slipping off and missing. Afterward, she heard a coach talking bad about her weight and she cried to Aimee about it and her coach told her that it was all nonsense. She was scared to face Martha after talking to Aimee but once she faced her she told Simone that she always had to be on a 100 and confident while performing like this. Months before Simone had to perform at the national championship, Simone's parents, coaches, and elders gave her encouraging words and conversations with her to make her turn around and be at her full potential again and it worked by her winning the 2013 all-around P&G national championships. She later was selected to be in the US world championship team.

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                                            #13 Wheels Up

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                                            #13 Wheels Up

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It was the day where the Olympic games were broadcasting on TV. Simone and her teammates were all expectantly watching. A while later, the American gymnasts USA won artistic team gold in the 2012 Olympics. Simone's teammates were chanting her name saying that this will be her in the 2016 Olympics and she secretly hoped that it would turn to be true. Next, Simone was in the nationals camp and she and her teammate got selected to participate in the American Cup. When the time came for the competition, Simone was doing her routine until she fell off the beam on national TV. Simone was scared that Martha would scold her but instead, she consoled her by saying "keep your head screwed on tight." Meanwhile, in Simone's personal life away from gymnastics, Simone wanted to get her own car since she finished her driver's ed. One day, when Simone returned from practice, she noticed that her dad got her dream car. She was very thankful and admired her new car, the color turquoise, and the interior zebra print. her dad thought it was weird but she insisted by saying, "it's my own special touch."

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                            #12 Redemption

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                            #12 Redemption

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After being late to class, Simone had to do 10 routines on the beam which was quite a lot. Simone wasn't having it and started acting with an attitude otherwise known as her "bratty period" Aimee wasn't having it and made her complete the assignment. Although she had to do a lot of hard work that Simone didn't want to always do, there's always something good in return. Simone noticed that she was a lot more fit and experienced than last year's national's competition. So by the time the national championship competition came around again, she competed and got picked out to be a part of the women's junior national team of 2012. Simone was glad that she finally made it after all these years.

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"The question was, which experience did I want more---high school homecoming games and senior prom and wild, crazy times with my friends, or the international experience at gymnastics meets with the girls i'd been reading about for years?" (127)

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                              #11 New Normal

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                              #11 New Normal

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Summer break is coming to an end and time is very little for the decision that Simone is soon about to make. It's either school or gymnastics. Simone was very indecisive and she couldn't just choose one. She really wanted to go to public school to experience prom, homecoming, and making a bunch of new friends. She overall just wanted to be a normal teenager living a normal life. But on the contrary, she really wanted that gymnastics life and to be the best of the best of her sport and finally being a part of the Olympics. In the end, she chooses the gymnastics path because she realized that God gave her the gift of being good at this sport and she didn't want to waste it.

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"For the first time in my gymnastics career, i was facing an agonizing decision----high school with my friends, or home school at the gym?" (124)

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                                                   #10 Game Change

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                                                   #10 Game Change

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Simone had already done her part in the national championships but she, unfortunately, missed one spot of becoming the newly elected member of the USA women's junior team. there were 13 people being selected but Simone had been ranked in 14th place. The results devastated Simone, all this time she had one particular goal: to make it into the national team. Later, as she went to her hotel, she bursts out crying while her parents tried to console her. Simone's brother, Ron, called her and said that she shouldn't give up, and just by being one slot off from making it, she should use that as a motivation that she's almost there. Simone felt way better after that motivation speech and she learned she didn't fail but instead this made her learn that she hasn't succeeded just yet. Next, after Simone talked with Aimee they agreed that Simone should do more hours of practice to be rock solid in all of her skills. Simone soon realized that she is going to enter the 9th grade and she needs to put in a lot of work to pass. She then had a conflict between school and gymnastics. She didn't know how to balance the two out and she had to come to a decision.

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"Up until then, gymnastics had been mostly fun and games for me; I had to start seeing it as work too." (109)

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                                                       #9 Bar Release

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                                                       #9 Bar Release

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Simone entered another national competition, shortly after finishing the competition, she won first place all-around and this made her debut as a junior elite gymnast. Because of this win, she received another opportunity to compete in the American Classic and anyone who did well enough in that meet would automatically go to the national championships. This was also Simone's golden ticket so that if she did well in the nationals Martha Karolyi can select her to be in the next artistic gymnastic women's junior team. Although Simone wasn't qualified, Aimee sent another video of Simone doing her performances to Martha and she finally invited her to the developmental camp. When Simone went to the camp, she thought it would be all fun with a little bit of practice but she was completely wrong. She and the rest of her peers at camp had to practice from 8 am-7 pm. Simone disliked it very much because of how tired she got from constant practice. But she knew it was all for a good cause for her to expand her skills. This is also when Simone soon realized that gymnastics isn't always about being fun it is also about doing the work. when she returned from camp, she attended the American Classic competition and did so well that she qualified for the national championships which was her golden ticket.

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                                              #8 Daydreamer

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                                              #8 Daydreamer

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Simone's dad assured her that if she passes the statewide competition then she'll get a dog. Later on, She without a doubt passed the competition. Later when Simone was stern that she wanted to go elite, she had to expand her hours at the gym to practice more of her skills. After her family moved out to a new house, she had to be driven to the gym and attend a private middle school that she strongly disliked because of the school's environment. When Simone participated in the national competition in Houston, she was among the many winners and earned a five-thousand-dollar reward but had to donate it to the gym because this would automatically make her a pro athlete and would essentially make her not be eligible for gymnastics college. After the competition, Aimee sent a video of Simone doing her routines to Martha Karolyi, in hopes that she'll be invited to the developmental camp at a training center, this is a critical step into becoming an elite.

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                                             #7 Leveling Up

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                                             #7 Leveling Up

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During a usual day at the gym, Simone was practicing some full rotations on the high bar which is called giants she accidentally lost her balance making her fall on the ground and getting hurt. She got really scared and didn't want to work with the bars anymore because it's more difficult to use them since she is short and has small hands. However, her coach Aimee said otherwise, at first Simone objected to practice on the bars ever again but Aimee convinced her to do it and they kept practicing until Simone mastered it. A couple of years pass by and Simone is now age eleven, she leveled up pretty quickly and is now at the highest level, ten. Simone started to attend a lot of competitions and she kept getting medals, some coaches worried that she was moving too quickly but her coach Aimee didn't think so, Aimee assured as long as Simone is having fun and not stressed then she has no problem with it. During this time, her parents really started to notice that she has been blessed with a gift of being good at gymnastics.

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                                    #6 A Novena

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                                    #6 A Novena

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Simone's mother told her that her grandmother, Caye, is going to come over and live with them for a while. Because of her health declining, she needed to have someone by her side. When grandma Caye moved over she seemed very frail and weak due to her sickness. Simone's mother started a prayer called a Novena: a series of prayers asking for special graces from God. Your repeat the prayers nine days in a row, and by the end you're supposed to see a merciful shift in whatever situation you've been praying about. As it came to the last days of the series of prayers, grandma Caye grew frailer with each day that had passed. And on the last day, she sadly passed away. This brought Simone closer to her family and especially her grandfather.

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"As she talked to us that day, we learned two very important lessons. First, always have the courage to own up to your mistakes. And second, respect other people's property. Actually, Adria and I also came up with a third lesson: a true Cheetah Girl never lies." (66)

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                         #5 Shady Arbor Way

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                         #5 Shady Arbor Way

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Simone now being seven, reminisces about the days where she and Adria were having the time of their lives. She also talks about her childhood friends called Marissa and Becca and how they were obsessed with the cheetah girls movie, they even called themselves "the cheetah girls." Simone also goes on to talk about how she got into huge trouble with Adria about throwing rocks at a neighbors pool and soon getting caught, they later got scolded and their mother taught them a lesson.

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                               #4 Doing Backflips

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                               #4 Doing Backflips

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During a typical day at daycare, Simone being six years of age, she and her class went to a tumbling gym called Bannons Gymnastix for a field trip. Later that day, as Simone was tumbling and doing backflips the receptionist of the gym, Veronica, noticed and encouraged her to join a gymnastics class in which she later did. During Simone's gymnastics class, Aimee Boorman, who is a gymnastics coach noticed Simone's incredible skills and quickly moved her into a Junior Olympic (JO) program which allows gymnasts to advance through ten skill levels and compete in competitions. Simone throughout her first weeks of joining the program quickly advanced through the skill levels in which she ended up In level five. Her coach, Aimee Boorman, knew that Simone would have what it would take to reach the Olympics.

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"I think we felt as if we were in a fairy tale of our own, because everywhere we looked there were shiny new things that our grandparents thought we'd need for life in Spring." (29)

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"My heart was pounding so hard that i thought everyone could hear it. After competing against the best of the best in my sport, had i actually made the cut?" (15)

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                                 #3 True Home

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                                 #3 True Home

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One day, Simone now five years old, and her siblings returned from school to home, they got surprised that their mother had come for a visit. But really she came to ask if Simone and her siblings could move back in with her in Columbus, Ohio. After a very long debate, it was decided that they moved back in with her foster parents because her mother wasn't fully clean yet, and had to prove to the social workers that she was responsible enough to take care of her children. Unfortunately, Shanon wasn't able to be clean so instead, Simone and Adria moved in with her grandparents but Ashley and Tevin had to move in with her Aunt in Ohio because they had a closer relationship with their mother. A couple of years later, her grandparents eventually legally adopted them and Simone and Adria now call's them, mom and dad.

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Spring is Simone's hometown in Texas. Throughout her early childhood, she grew up with her grandparents. Her mother, Shanon, was a drug user and she was struggling. Because of this, Simone at three years old, and her siblings had to be put in foster care and eventually moved in with her grandparents. She and her siblings were very content living with her grandparents as if it were a "fairy tale."

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Simone was just only fourteen years old when she participated in the 2011 Visa National Championships. She wanted to be accepted into the USA Gymnastics (USAG) women's artistic junior team. She felt very nervous and unsure about how she'll perform. After all, this was the big debate whether she would be accepted into the team or not.

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BILES, SIMONE. COURAGE TO SOAR: a Body in Motion, a Life in Balance. ZONDERVAN, 2018.