10 fascinating things you didn’t know about Simone Biles

At this point, there’s little doubt that Simone Biles is the greatest gymnast of all time. She’s proven time and time again on the world stage that there’s no one like her. However, because most fans only see her prominently once every four years, it’s easy to miss some cool facts about one of the greatest athletes of our generation.

Being the best of all time is priceless, but outlets like Cosmopolitan, Finance Monthly and Marca have reported that Biles’ fortune is approximately $25 million. CNBC reported that the United States awarded athletes $38,000 for each gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which highlights the minimal piece of the pie Biles’ medals actually contribute to her net worth.

Of course, Biles is in high demand as a spokesperson for several brands. In what was perhaps a stunning move, The New York Times reported that the gymnast left Nike three months before the 2020 Olympics to partner with women’s clothing brand Athleta.

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Biles was born to Shanon Biles and Kevin Clemons in 1997, but they are not her legal guardians. Shanon Biles struggled with addiction in those times, so her father Ronald took young Simone and her siblings in. Ronald and Nellie Biles legally adopted the children when Simone was six years old, according to People’s website.

Biles is forever grateful for Ron and Nellie’s continued support and love. Biles told TODAY’s morning show, “If not for my parents and adoption, I wouldn’t be here today.”

There are many people throughout the world who are looking for love on dating apps. It might be hard to believe, but Biles was once one of those people. According to NBC, she was using Raya and eventually matched with her future husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens.

Perhaps surprisingly, Owens told Texas Monthly that he didn’t know who Biles was when they first met. “I just hadn’t heard of her, and when I told her that, that’s one of the things she liked.” Owens added that the pair started hanging out before the pandemic, which was a blessing in disguise because they really got to take the time to know each other.

Biles’ educational journey was a bit disjointed due to her rising promise in the gymnastics world. She went to public school early on in her life, but was then homeschooled from high school on, according to Essentially Sports. According to BBC and USA Gymnastics’ website, her favorite subject was history.

It might be the most ironic part of Biles’ story. She was focused on history as a child, and she’s done nothing but make history in the world of sports as she got older.

Biles used to have a huge crush on Efron, before she met her husband. She once posted on social media, “just call me Mrs. Efron already,” when the two posed together on an episode of TODAY’s morning show.

Efron was a big fan of USA women’s gymnastics, as he admitted in 2016. He told TODAY he was “immediately captivated by these girls and what they were doing.”

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Biles has her go-to foods (more on that in a second), but stays far away from coconut. She told Women’s Health Magazine, “The only food I don’t really like to eat is anything with coconut in it. For some reason, I don’t particularly like that taste, but anything else, I’m pretty good (with).”

Due to the notable time she spends at the gym, Biles doesn’t like to eat meals that significantly weigh her down. When she’s in the midst of competition, the famed gymnast doesn’t like to consume complicated dishes. She told Athena Sports’ website, “I like to eat fish with vegetables and rice.”

Gymnasts aren’t exactly known for being towering specimens, but even with that expectation, Biles is rather diminutive in height. She stands only 4’8”, although her presence is obviously immense.

Essentially Sports noted that Biles admitted she used to lie about her height as a kid, but that never stopped her from focusing on her inherent advantages. She said, “I’d been born with the kind of biceps and muscled calves that, back in third grade, had earned me the nickname ‘swoldger’, a cross between swollen and soldier.”

Since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Biles has been pretty open about her mental state. With that being said, it’s still remarkable that she’s been able to cut right through the pressure for the better part of a decade at such a consistent level. With that said, Biles’ nerves come into play on a different type of playing field.

Biles has thrown out a couple of first pitches at MLB games, including once at the World Series. She told Uniwatch that she was much more nervous for that than anything related to gymnastics. She put in some time to practice the tosses with her dad, so that she wouldn’t end up in a “fail video.”

For the vast majority of her career, Biles has really only had to compete against one person; herself. However, it appears as if that’s changed in the last year or so, as Biles has given Rebeca Andrade from Brazil her flowers. During Biles’ Netflix documentary, she immediately named Andrade as her biggest threat, and even admitted that she scared her the most.

Maybe Andrade has come along at the perfect time, as Biles now has a greater reason to keep her magnificent career going. Biles also said of Andrade in a press conference, “I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely puts me on my toes and brought out the best athlete in myself.”

Biles spent her formative years growing up in Houston, and still calls Texas home. However, she’s got one destination that she has fallen in love with over and above everywhere else: Belize. She holds dual citizenship there due to Nellie Biles’ background, according to The New York Times.

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The San Pedro Sun covered Biles’ retreat there for her bachelorette party before she tied the knot with Jonathan Owens. Biles told Dayton Daily News about her Belize trips, “We are big on fishing trips and make sure to take at least one whenever we’re there.” She told them that they take the fish they catch back to the hotel and have them cooked for dinner.