With a combined total of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals, superstar Simone Biles is the most decorated American gymnast and the world’s third most successful athlete to ever grace the artistic sport.
Making her senior international debut at the 2013 American Cup, the 23-year-old acrobat has become a household name, especially among young females aspiring to join the U.S. Olympic team one day.. While most of Biles’ achievements are widely known, there are a few things only those closest to her are aware of. Here are five fascinating facts you didn’t know about the Olympic champion.
She Orders Pizza After Every Competition
In order to maintain her extraordinary physique, Biles makes sure she orders the “perfect” meal following every competition. Rather than a salad or protein-rich grilled salmon, the toned gymnast devours a delicious pizza pie.
While chatting with ABC News back in 2016, Biles said win or loss, she always enjoys a pizza after competing. “It doesn’t even matter if I don’t win a self-gold, after every meet I have pizza,” she said.
She Competed With a Kidney Stone
During the 2018 World Gymnastics Championships in Doha, Qatar, Simone Biles led Team USA to a gold medal while suffering from a kidney stone.
Before the competition, Biles was admitted to the hospital but was unable to pass the stone. Determined to help her team win the championship, she left with the kidney stone still inside her body.. To this day she jokes about the experience: “I’m trying not to move every time I do something just in case [the stone] moves. Then I also hear roller coasters might help kidney stones, and I’m like my own roller coaster out there.”
She Has a Very Understandable Fear of Bees
As Biles was receiving a gold medal in the individual all-around at the 2014 World Gymnastics Championships, a bee flew out of the bouquet she was holding while standing on the podium.
After several failed attempts to shake the bee off her floral arrangement, Biles threw the bouquet on the podium and stepped away. All of this was going on as the announcer continued talking. It was quite a sight to behold.
She Has ADHD And Isn’t Ashamed
At an early age, Biles was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — a medical condition she had kept private for quite sometime. It wasn’t until Russian hackers leaked her medical history ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games that her diagnosis was revealed to the public.
Following news that the public now knew she had tested positive for methylphenidate (Ritalin), Biles took to social media to defend herself. “Having ADHD, and taking medicine for it, is nothing to be ashamed of [and] nothing that I’m afraid to let people know,” she posted on Twitter.. During a later interview with Understood, Biles said she never considered her ADHD a hindrance. Understanding how learning disabilities are framed can affect children, she often thinks of her ADHD as a superpower.
She Was Adopted At a Young Age
After she was born in 1997 in Columbus, Ohio, Biles was removed from her home due to her mother’s addiction. Along with her three siblings, she was placed into foster care.
At six years old, Biles and her little sister Adria were adopted by their paternal grandfather, Air Force veteran Ron, and his wife, Nellie. The siblings’ great aunt adopted her older siblings.