"It can come back to life" - When Simone Biles opened up on her and sister Adria's attempt to save turtle's life

Simone Biles once opened up about when she and her sister Adria attempted to save a turtle's life. They found it dead, crushed under a car on the street, but Adria believed she could resurrect it

Biles wrote in her autobiography, "Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance", published in 2016:

“'Adria, it’s dead!' I hissed from the sidewalk. 'No,' she said, 'It can come back to life.' Adria and I submerged this squished turtle in water in the very same pet shop container we’d used to save the bird eggs. Once again, we left the container in our bathroom and checked on it every day. Adria (who, in her defense, was still only five years old) seemed convinced that the turtle would come back to life.

But all that happened was that our bathroom began to reek. The smell was disgusting, and when it started invading our room, my sister had no choice but to throw that poor turtle away."

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Simone Biles' sister once revealed the reason why she started gymnastics

Simone Biles attends the 2025 Met Gala in New York City. (Photo by Getty Images)

Simone Biles' sister Adria said in August last year (via The Chris Osmond Show on YouTube):

"She [Simone] started at like probably six or seven and then I started around the same time and I only wanted to do it because she wanted to do it, like, I was obsessed with my sister. I still am because we're best friends but I only wanted to do it because she wanted to do it." (2:52 onwards)

"So my parents put us both in and my very first competition I was like, 'Why are they looking at me,' like I could not get it together and my mom pulled me out. The following year my mom put me back in as a birthday present and then I fell in love with it, so yeah we've done it for a while."

Biles' gymnastics career began when her parents, Ronald and Nellie, enrolled her in a gymnastics program during a daycare field trip.