#Rio2016: World's most decorated gymnast Simone Biles was abandoned by drug-addicted parents but adopted by grandparents

Simone Arianne Biles, a 19-year-old gymnast for Team U.S.A., is already the most decorated gold medalist in world championship gymnastics history. 

In Rio, she is on the fast track to becoming the best in the world, again, being that she's very likely  to bring home as many as five gold medals this year

Biles' moves as gymnast is what her competitors could only dream about. Her routines are so complex and so rarely seen in competition, they just name them after her. Here is her signature move, known as “The Biles”:

She is on her way to bringing the U.S.A. glory on an international stage, becoming a household name for millions, and signing loads of lucrative endorsement deals.

All these happened because a couple decided to adopt her. 

Simone  and her siblings were born into a fatherless, drug-abusing family and eventually placed in foster care. 

According to Texas Monthly:

"Biles was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1997 to drug-addicted parents who struggled to care for their children. Biles and her three siblings were shuffled back and forth between their mother’s house and a foster home. (Biles’s father had abandoned her mother and was never present in his daughter’s life.)

"When I asked her what memories she has from those days, Biles recalled that one of the foster homes had a trampoline that she and her siblings weren’t allowed to play on.

"Her upbringing was chaotic. Biles bounced back and forth between state and foster care until she was six years old. In 2001, her grandparents, Ron and Nellie Biles, officially adopted Simone and her sister and moved them to Spring, Texas."

Simone describes the moment when her grandparents, Ron and Nellie, became Mom and Dad:

At the time, the sisters called Ron and Nellie “Grandpa” and “Grandma,” but one day Nellie sat Simone and Adria down for a talk. “She said, ‘It’s up to you guys. If you want to, you can call us Mom and Dad,’ ” Simone remembered.

Ron and Nellie were the first to introduce Simone to the sport of gymnastics. After a year at a local Texas gym, Biles was spotted by trainer and former competitive gymnast, Aimee Boorman, who has since overseen her meteoric rise.

Her parents also introduced Simone to her Christian faith. She attends mass with her family every Sunday when she is not competing. Simone prays regularly and carries a rosary that her mother gave her.

It was Simone’s grounding in faith and a loving family that has allowed her to reach such super-human heights. Her grueling training routine has always been supported by her mother and father, who are with her every step of the way.

Her schedule, according to Texas Monthly, looks pretty crazy:

In a typical week Biles trains on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:30 to 5:30; on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9 to noon and 3 to 6; and on Saturdays from 9 to 1. On Sundays, her one day off, she goes to church with her family.

Image Credits: AFP, Getty