In Babies and more, we always talk about the importance of birth and the first years in people's lives, how the experiences lived during childhood influence in adolescence and later, in adult life. But what happens when luck has not been on your side during the first years of life, when you have not had a favorable childhood? Simone Biles is the example of how a girl who has had a dramatic childhood becomes an Olympic phenomenon.
Everyone talks about her. Simone Biles is a star of artistic gymnastics that is leaving everyone speechless with their exhibits at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. She is practically still a child. He is 19 years old, less than a meter and a half and weighs 47 kilos, but It is already a sport legend.
Simone Biles childhood
Today he is at the top, but when he was born nothing he predicted that he would become in the future the queen of artistic gymnastics.
He bequeathed the world on March 14, 1997 in Columbus, Ohio (United States). His biological parents, Shanon Biles and Kelvin Clemins, they were alcoholics and drug addicts. Her father left home, and because her mother was unable to take care of her and her three siblings, were given for adoption.
She lived with her brothers in shelters until at age six, Simone's grandfather, Ronald, and his second wife Nellie rescued her from that hell.
His older brothers were adopted by his grandfather's sister and the younger ones, Simone and Adria, went to live with Roland and Nellie. At first they were going to adopt Adria alone, but Nellie convinced her grandfather not to separate the sisters. Today they live with their grandfather, his wife and their children in Spring, a town near Houston, Texas.
When asked about her biological mother, the young woman comments:
“When I was younger, I wondered what would have happened to my life if none of this had happened. Sometimes I still wonder if my biological mother regrets and would like to have done things differently, but I avoid asking myself these questions because I don't have to answer them. "
For his part, Shanon, his biological mother knows the success of his daughter and has reconciled with her after having been many years apart from her life. His father (and Simone's grandfather) did not want him to enter and leave the children's lives until he was fully rehabilitated from drugs.
The 44-year-old woman has told the Daily Mail newspaper how hard it was for her to assume that she could not raise her children alone:
“I didn't understand it until years later, and I understood why. That was the first thing I had to deal with. ”
Gymnastics, your refuge
She was an overactive girl who did somersaults all day. To satisfy this need for movement, the grandparents decided to sign it up for classes at a sports center specializing in artistic gymnastics. His talent was undeniable.
At 8 years old, her current coach discovered her. "I thought, but where did this girl come from! She started to make a very complicated jump and told me: my brother has taught me in the backyard of the house," says Aimee Boorman.
In 2012, he began studying at home in order to expand his training time and exceeded all expectations. A year later she was already world champion.
His talent and skills are from another planet. The history of artistic gymnastics will change, experts say, and even compare it with the great Nadia Comaneci.
When one sees these cases of exceptional talents, one thinks that behind each one there are parents who support their children unconditionally. But this is not the case. Here there is some grandparents with a big heart who raised her like their own daughter. In fact, they are, she calls them dad and mom.
In Magnet | Why Simone Biles is the total star of the Olympic Games and will revolutionize gymnastics
