Al Trautwig says he regrets tweet about Simone Biles’ parents

When NBC gymnastics commentator Al Trautwig mentioned them, however, he referred to them as “Simone’s grandfather and his wife” – and America noticed. Ron and Nellie are Simone’s grandparents, however they adopted Simone and her sister in 2001 (the women’ mother and father have been preventing drug and alcohol points).

When confronted on Twitter about the fact that he refused to call Biles’ parents her parents on TV, Trautwig doubled down, saying that “They may be mom and dad but they are NOT her parents”.

By all accounts, it should be fairly obvious that Ron and Nellie Biles are indeed Simone’s parents. When a woman tweeted Trautwig to say he should call them her parents, he tweeted back that they are not.

In addition to this apology coming a little too late, the veteran sports broadcaster didn’t correct his tweet; he deleted it.

Carrie Goldman, who lives outside of Chicago and writes a blog, “Portrait of an Adoption”, said NBC and its personnel should not minimize the role of adoptive parents.

Ron and Nellie provided the structure that the girls needed and set the foundation that helped produce what could be the greatest gymnast of her generation.

Biles, 19, the three-time world champion, is poised to become one of the brightest stars of the Rio Games. They legally are her parents.

The story is a compelling aspect of Ms. Biles’ biography, and Nellie Biles is featured in Procter & Gamble’s Olympics’ themed ad campaign “Thank you, Mom”.

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