Simone Biles Responds to Reporter’s Comments About Her Parents
The 2016 Olympic Games have the world cheering for all of the athletes involved, but that hasn’t stopped criticism from the media. Perhaps the most notable incident was one that involved Simone Biles and her parents.
On Sunday August 7, gymnastics announcer Al Trautwig said on-air that Biles, 19, “was raised by her grandfather and his wife and she calls them mom and dad.” Biles’ parents, Ron and Nellie Biles, adopted her and her little sister 15 years ago.
After a viewer corrected the reporter on Twitter, he proceeded to attempt to justify his words.
However, his efforts only made the situation worse.
After being called out, he tweeted “They may be mom and dad but they are NOT her parents.” The tweet has since been deleted.
When asked to comment on the social media controversy, Biles said, “I personally don’t have a comment. My parents are my parents and that’s it.”
Rather than get caught up in the social media mess, Biles chose to celebrate her team’s victory, as well as her own.
However, Biles wasn’t the only one celebrating a massive victory at the Olympics.
Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers, 18, took home a gold medal after spectacularly beating out other favorites to win the 100m freestyle.
The nation is congratulating him on his victory, but their cheers are nothing compared to the elation of Chalmers’ grandparents.
Approximately 83% of individuals 65 and older have grandchildren, but not many can say that their grandchild won a gold medal in the Olympics.
“Normally I’m a little settled, wherever I’ve been, following him I’ve always taken footage of him. But today I got away from it, I was absolutely over moon and I went for it. Yes, what a tremendous win,” Chalmers’ grandfather Malcolm said.
The footage of their reaction has gone viral, and has elated people around the world.
These Olympic medalists deserve to celebrate and be celebrated, which appears to be exactly what they plan on doing.
“It was everything I wanted and more,” Biles said. “I imagined I was going to be crying but I think we’re all just happy. I haven’t found the word yet, I need a dictionary!”
Biles is the first gymnast in history to receive five gold medals at a single Olympic Games.
