"They've supported me throughout" - Simone Biles opens up on her decision to give back to the community after Paris Olympics success

Simone Biles shared how giving back to the community during Thanksgiving would be a pleasure since they have supported her throughout her career. Since Biles had a troubled childhood in a foster home, she uses her worldwide recognition to help under-resourced families and children in need through different organizations.

Simone Biles earned three gold medals in the team, all-around, and vault, and silver in the floor event at the 2024 Paris Games. She then continued her excellence at the Gold Over America tour, inspiring the up-and-coming generations with stories from her setbacks to perseverance.

She who spent days in foster care as a child, now uses her global fame and financial resources to help the foster care community and Friends of the Children organization in Houston. Biles also helps under-resourced children and youth pursue sports.

In an interview with US Weekly, she shared her plans of giving back to the community on Thanksgiving. Partnered with DICK’s Sporting Goods, the 11-time Olympic medalist will take part in a Texas-wide store decorating competition to aid local youth sports organizations through philanthropy grants.

Shedding light on the initiative, she said

"Giving back to the community is a given. They’ve supported me throughout my entire career. At the end of the day, if I can do something to support them — to help uplift and to bring some holiday cheer, especially around some hard times like this — that’s what I’m going to do."

She further added:

"It’s just an absolutely amazing thing. I was like, ‘I definitely have to do this and get involved,’ especially with so many kids growing up in sports, helping to build their communities. I thought it was really important.”

Simone Biles also became a mental health advocate after her Tokyo Olympics heartbreak.

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Simone Biles once revealed what drives her to support foster youth

Simone Biles in between her gymnastic sessions at the Tokyo Olympics - (Source: Getty)

Simone Biles and her siblings were sent to a foster home when the Olympian was six. Months later, her biological grandparents Nellie and Ron Biles adopted her and her younger sister Adria, giving them the life they deserved.

With that in mind, she participated in the Project Glimmer fundraiser (2020), an initiative to help under-served women, especially those in foster care. She reassured them of their abilities and noted how important it was for her to help the youth in need.

She said in her speech:

"They simply lack the support and often the financial resources and opportunity to realise their potential. Working to help support foster youth means everything to me. I know what it's like. At age 5, that was me. I stood in those shoes. To now be an ambassador for this community is very fulfilling.”(via Olympics.com; October 27, 2020)

She then delivered an inspirational message, saying:

"To any girls listening to me now, I say you can do it. You just have to be the first. The first to share your story, your advice, your words, and people will follow."

Biles surpassed American gymnast Shannon Miller to become the most decorated gymnast in the US, extending her medal tally to 11 in Paris 2024.