in an interview with Daily Mail: Broadcasting after the Paris Olympics, Simone Biles’ mother Shannon said she wanted to “make amends” for her drug addiction past in hopes of bonding with the gymnast and Olympic champion.
To celebrate her daughter’s victory in the 2024 Paris Olympics, she threw a party in her backyard in Columbus, Ohio. But thousands of kilometers and a lifetime of suffering still separate him from Simone Biles. Today, Shannon, the biological mother of the most decorated American gymnast in history, is emerging from her silence in hopes of putting the pieces back together. “I would like to make amends with Simone personally. I’m just waiting for him and [sa petite sœur] Adria. […] I would just like to ask him to forgive me,” she pleads in a lengthy video interview with the British newspaper Daily Mail: published on Tuesday, August 13. And begging him. “Can we move on? Don’t judge me by my past. Let’s go ahead.”
This past she evokes is related to her addiction to drugs and alcohol, which caused her to lose custody of her children at a very young age. Indeed, after being placed with several foster families, Simone and her sister Adria were finally adopted and raised by Shannon’s father, Ronald, and his wife, Nellie, in Houston, Texas. Meanwhile, their two older siblings, Ashley and Tevin Biles-Thomas, grew up apart from them with Ronald’s sister Harriet in Cleveland.
“No call and no visit”
“When we signed the documents [d’adoption]as if my father had flipped the switch: no contact, no calls and no visits. It was like that at first,” says Shannon, admitting that at first he could not support this decision. “I was stubborn. I did not think, I shouted. “I want to see my children. Why are you treating me like this?” I didn’t understand at the time, but years later I understood why. I have to take care of myself first,” he recalls. He eventually resigns and accepts the situation.
“It took six years before I saw my children again. I honored my father by letting the children pass. He thought it was the best thing for them,” he continued, before admitting, “It was hard to leave my children behind, but I had to do what I had to do. I couldn’t take care of them. I was still using and [mon père] didn’t want me in and out of their lives when I wasn’t well.”
“I’m a recovering drug addict.”
Today, at the age of 52, Shannon says she is “very different from what we could have imagined,” describing herself as a “loving” person. “I am no longer the person I was before. I am fine today,” he assures, explaining that he must “learn to stay away from people, places and things. Change your routine and live your life. Live your life to the fullest.” The article Daily Mail: also states that he is “clean and sober” now. “I am a recovering addict and always will be. But there is a way [de guérir]”, he claims.
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As for Simone Biles’ biological father, Kevin Clemons, who himself has struggled with addiction in the past, he will no longer have any means of communication with his daughter. However, Shannon assures that the latter would also like to restore relations with the gymnastics prodigy. “We both want to see him. I talk to him all the time. He said: “If you talk to Simon, give him my number, I’d love to talk to him.” But I can’t even talk to him. I have to go through my father,” he reveals in this interview.
Indeed, Ronald is currently the only intermediary between mother and daughter, who no longer have direct contact. The Olympic gold medalist didn’t even want her mother to attend her April 2023 wedding to American soccer player Jonathan Owens. Shannon’s regrets abounded. “I want him to contact me. He is now 27 years old. He is married. I would love to be a part of this group but I’ll just have to wait it out. We can’t force anyone,” he admits.
Because while she claims to have Simone’s “direct number,” Shannon claims she doesn’t.[l’utilisera] no, preferring to wait for the “chance” of her daughter to “come to her senses”; [elle]”. “It hasn’t happened yet, but I have patience. I’m waiting for it, “he clings.
“I want you to hear the truth”
Wanting to ‘let him know it[elle] love him and[elle est] very proud” athlete, Shannon hopes to increase her chances of reconciling with the gymnastics star through this media intervention. “As soon as he’s ready, I’ll be there ready to welcome him. But I’m still waiting,” he repeats.
Determined to be transparent and honest with Simone, she committed to shedding light on her story, giving him her own version of the facts to show her “how it really was”. “I would love to sit down and talk with you and answer all of your questions. I don’t know what they told you, but I want you to hear the truth,” he said with a last hope.
Source: Le Figaro
