<P> Simone Arianne Biles (born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast . Biles is the 2016 Olympic individual all - around, vault and floor gold medalist, and balance beam bronze medalist . She was part of the gold medal - winning team dubbed the "Final Five" at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro . </P> <P> Biles is a three - time world all - around champion (2013--15), three - time world floor champion (2013--15), two - time world balance beam champion (2014, 2015), four - time United States national all - around champion (2013--16), and a member of the gold medal - winning American teams at the 2014 and 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships . She also won the bronze medal for vault at the 2015 World Championships . </P> <P> Having won a combined total of nineteen Olympic and World Championship medals, Biles is the most decorated American gymnast, taking over from Shannon Miller, who had held this record since 1993 . With her win in Rio, Biles became the sixth woman to have won an individual all - around title at both the World Championships and the Olympic Games . With four Olympic gold medals, Biles set an American record for most gold medals in women's gymnastics at a single Games . Her accomplishments have led many of her peers as well as the media to refer to her as the greatest gymnast ever . </P> <P> Simone Arianne Biles was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio, the third of four siblings . Her birth mother, Shanon Biles, was unable to care for Simone or her other children--Ashley, Tevin, and Adria--due to her drug and alcohol addiction, and the children were in and out of foster care . Simone's birth father, Kelvin Clemons, abandoned his family, struggled with addictions, and was never present in his daughter's life . Shanon's father, Ron (Simone's grandfather), and his second wife, Nellie Cayetano Biles, who had two nearly - adult sons, Ron Jr. and Adam, began temporarily caring for Shanon's children in 2000, in the north Houston suburb of Spring, Texas and later in 2003 the couple officially adopted the two youngest children, Simone and Adria, and Ron's sister adopted the two oldest . Ron, Simone's adoptive father, is originally from Cleveland, and is a former air traffic controller, who served in the military with the U.S. Air Force at San Antonio's Randolph Air Force Base and later with the Federal Aviation Administration . Nellie, Simone's adoptive mother, emigrated from Belize, is a nurse and the former co-owner of a chain of fourteen Texas - based nursing homes . </P>

Who is the most decorated gymnast of all time