Simone Biles has paid tribute to her parents – just a day after the gymnast’s biological mother made a public plea for her forgiveness.
Drug addiction led Shanon Biles to abandon her children and in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com on Tuesday, the 52-year-old said she lives in hope that her daughter will one day reach out.
On Wednesday, however, the history-making gymnast revealed how her birth grandparents – who adopted her at the age of six – had bought her a gift following her golden Olympics in Paris
‘My parents bought me my hermes bag,’ she wrote on Threads alongside a love-heart emoji. ‘Don’t be mad at me, be mad at your parents’
Biles won three more gold medals – and a silver – to cement herself as the biggest star in gymnastics during this summer’s Games in Paris.
She has since returned to the United States to be reunited with her NFL husband Jonathan Owens, a safety for the Chicago Bears.
Owens was in the crowd as Biles – now 27 – won gold in the team all-around competition, the individual all-around and the vault. She took silver in the floor exercise.
So were Biles’ parents – Ronald and Nellie – who stepped up to care for the gymnast and her younger sister Adria, bringing them to live with them in Texas.
Shanon first lost her children to foster care and then to adoption, with her father and Nellie taking in Simone and Adria and her two eldest kids – Tevin, now 29 and Ashley, now 34 – looked after by Ronald’s sister.
Shanon’s life spiraled out of control due to drug and alcohol addiction. The 52-year-old racked up a string of debts and has long lived in the same house in the crime-ridden Columbus neighborhood of Franklinton.
‘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 DailyMail.com.
Shanon spoke of her pain at missing out on major life events such as Biles’ wedding last year to Owens.
‘I would like to make amends with Simone personally – I’m just waiting for her and Adria. I speak to Adria more than I speak to Simone,’ she said.
‘I would just ask her to forgive me. Can we move forward? Don’t judge me on my past. Let’s move forward. I’m waiting for the opportunity but I’m waiting on her to be able to come to me. Let’s sit down. I just have to be patient.’
According to Franklin County Municipal Court records, Shanon has faced court action 36 times for various traffic misdemeanors and criminal cases. Back in January 2020, she was found guilty of assault and handed a 180-day suspended prison sentence and probation until January 2022.
For the past couple of years, however, she has managed to stay out of trouble and now works as a cashier at discount grocery store Save A Lot.
Shanon has her daughter’s phone number but has never called it. Instead, any updates about her daughter come via Ronald.
Speaking directly to Simone she added: ‘I would like to sit down and talk to you and answer any questions you may have. I don’t know what you’ve been told but I want you to hear the real deal.’
