Courage to Soar – Summary

Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance Summary

Author: Simone Biles

Type: Biography

Charcters: Simone, Adria, Ashley, Tevin ,Momma Biles, Popba , Martha Karolyi, Aimee , Heather,

Subject: “Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance” is an autobiographical novel written by Simone Biles.It traces the trajectory of Biles’ life, right from her childhood in foster care to her rise to international fame as an Olympic gold medalist.This is the sole novel she has written and is well-received by critics.

Summary

The foreword to the memoir, written by 1984 Olympic gold medalist gymnast Mary Lou Retton, highlighted Simone’s strong gymnastic style and unprecedented success.

The first episode shifts to Simone’s perspective and first-person perspective, which remains consistent throughout the rest of the memoir. Simone tells about how she failed to get into the national women’s artistic junior gymnastics team only one place in 2011.

The next chapter returns to Simone’s early childhood; the rest of the memories are structured chronologically.Simone was born in Ohio to a woman named Shanon and had three siblings: older siblings Ashley and Tevin, and younger sister Adria. Due to Shanon having a drug addiction, Simone and her siblings were eventually placed in foster care and then taken in by Shanon’s father and his wife Poppa and Momma Biles.Eventually Simone’s two older siblings returned to Ohio and were adopted by Poppa Biles’ sister, while Simone and her younger sister Adria were adopted by Poppa and Momma Biles.

Simone started taking gymnastics lessons after a class trip to a gym and quickly progressed to the levels of the Junior Olympic (JO) Program, a competitive gymnastics league. He completed levels nine and ten while still in secondary school. in 2008, she finished second in the general classification at the state championships and qualified for the JO Gymnastics West Championship; as a reward, her father gave her a dog. Simone began to win meets regularly and finished fourth overall at the Western Championships, third overall at nationals and first in floor exercises.İn 2011, she won the gold medal at her first meet as an elite gymnast. After her coach Aimee sent a video of her performance to national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, Simone was invited to Martha’s celebrity development camp located on her ranch in Huntsville, Texas.

When Simone was growing up, her parents were strict, but she made good friends and had fun pretending to be a Cheetah Girl.When Simone was seven years old, her grandmother became ill and moved from Belize to Texas to live with Simone’s family.He eventually died after his battle with pulmonary fibrosis.For Simone, middle school went smoothly, until she had to transfer to a private school close to the gym to increase her training hours; she did not like this school.

After Simone failed to make the national team in 2011, she made the difficult decision to train at home to continue her elite gymnastics career. Although Simone was disappointed to miss high school events such as the prom, she was enjoying homeschooling with her teacher, Miss Heather.During the first few years of high school, Simone had a bad attitude towards her coaches, but she continued to train and perform very well. At the 2012 American Classic, Simone took first place in her age category and automatically qualified for the Visa National Championship.

Simone finished first overall at the US Secret Classic in May and third overall at the Visa National Championships, placed first on the vault and was selected to the national team. Simone fell out of the class on her first “assignment” or national team match, largely due to nerves, but still performed very well.She then won first place in the all-around and silver medal in the all-around at the two major meets in Italy and Germany. However, she had a lousy performance at the 2013 Secret Classic and Aimee pulled her out of the meeting.After more intensive training and a meeting with a sports psychologist, Simone won first place overall at the P&G National Championships and was named to the US national team.Simone then competed at the World Championships, which she won.

The following year, Simone received Catholic approval, and Aimee, her longtime coach, stopped working at Simone’s gym, so Simone’s family set up their own gym so that Simone could continue training with her coach. in 2014, Simone again won the National Championships and the World Championships.İn 2015, she won the World title again in the “three peat” and became the most decorated female gymnast in Olympic history.

Simone visited the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) when she was 18 and made a commitment, but had to withdraw because she decided to turn professional. Simone completed her memories with her experience at the Olympics soon after; her team won the “Last Five” gold medals, and she herself won individual all-around gold medals, including gold on both floor and vault and bronze on beam.