Simone Biles: Gold Medal Gymnast and Advocate for Healthy Living
Introduction Perseverance and Positivity Every person has a different life story Some people are famous Others aren’t widely known But everyone has remarkable qualities Perseverance and positivity are two qualities that make champion Olympic gymnast Simone Biles remarkable As a young child she had to persevere through a difficult family situation As an elite athlete she kept a positive attitude even when others made fun of her or when she failed to do her best With determination and a positive outlook she learned to live with the challenges in her life As she grew older she worked hard to become the best gymnast she could be Today pluck and persistence have made her dreams come true Simone Biles amazing accomplishments inspire people all over the world What Is a Biography A biography is the story of a person’s life and experiences We read biographies to learn about another person’s life A biography is based on primary sources such as a person’s own words or pictures and secondary sources such as information from friends family media and research Simone Biles has won more Olympic medals than any other American gymnast 4
Remarkable Simone During a trip to a gymnastics club when Simone was just 6 years old one of the coaches at the club noticed how Simone copied the skills of the older gymnasts Simone was determined to learn more so she asked her family to enroll her in gymnastics lessons That was the beginning of Simone’s incredible journey to becoming a world-famous Olympic athlete As you read about Simone Biles think about the qualities that made her achievements possible THINK ABOUT IT How do you define remarkable Do you know any remarkable people What qualities do they have 5
Chapter 1 Early Struggles Simone Arianne Biles was born on March 14 1997 in Columbus Ohio She has an older sister and brother Ashley and Tevin and a younger sister Adria Life at home was difficult Simone and her siblings were often sent to live in foster care when they were young Simone’s mother was in and out of jail due to her addiction to drugs and alcohol She was often not able to care for her children Simone’s father was not part of their lives Her grandparents decided to adopt Simone and Adria even though they already had two teenage sons at the time They became her mom and dad Simone’s older sister and brother were adopted by another member of the family Simone has achieved a lot in her life Her accomplishments have made her a role model Here she presents President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle with a surfboard on behalf of the 2016 Olympic team 6
A Spring in Her Steps Simone grew up in Spring Texas near Houston Spring has a population of about 54,000 people Simone was such an active child that her family once caught her doing backflips off the mailbox As a young athlete Simone was required to train for hours each day She missed a lot of school and school activities The intense training schedule meant that Simone had to be homeschooled for high school She earned her high school diploma in 2015 Training is hard work Simone trains about 32 hours a week at the gym 7
