Simone Biles’ mother wants to apologize to her daughter, whom she estranged from when she was a child

The mother of the world’s greatest gymnast, Simone Biles, wants to apologize to her daughter after years of estrangement. Shanon Biles abandoned the gymnast and her siblings when they were still children due to her drug addiction. Now sober, she wants to reconnect with the Olympic medalist.

“It was hard to give up my children, but I did what I had to do,” Shanon Biles told DailyMail in an interview. “I wasn’t able to take care of them. I was still using. [drogas]”, she said.

Simone has a younger sister, Adria, and two older brothers, Tevin and Ashley. She and Adria were taken in by their grandparents, Ronald and Nelly, while the older ones stayed with Ronald’s brother, after Shanon left them in foster care when the gymnast was three.

Later, she would discover artistic gymnastics and become one of the greatest athletes in the sport in the world.

Now, Shanon says she wants to make amends with her children: “I would like to reconcile with Simone in person — I’m just waiting for her and Adria. I talk to Adria more than I talk to Simone. I would just ask her to forgive me.”

“What I hear about Simone comes from my father,” she said. She also follows her daughter’s sports news and said she threw a party at her house to celebrate her medals at the Paris Olympics.