It may be frustrating for someone to get mistaken for their sibling, especially if one is considerably more famous than the other.
Though it doesn’t seem to bother Adria Biles, the sister of Simone. Simone is widely considered one of the best gymnasts in world history with another Olympic Games underway in Paris.
Adria said they look similar with some believing the two are twins. She’ll be asked for pictures and autographs by fans who think they’re meeting Simone.
“Even in Brazil, people came up to me every day thinking I was her,” Adria wrote on ESPN. “They’d ask for autographs and take pictures. And many times they didn’t speak English so I couldn’t explain that I wasn’t her. They’d just say, ‘Simone! Simone!’ and finally I decided it was easier to just let them take a picture.”
The two have been inseparable since a young age as they practiced gymnastics together. Both siblings would use a second-floor railing as a balance beam before leaping off onto the first-floor couch.
“When we were little kids, we’d stand on a railing on the second floor of our house, then jump off onto the couch down below on the first floor,” Adria wrote. “She’d go first, and I’d follow. We were both gymnasts, so we were always trying things around the house.”
Adria stepped away from gymnastics in 2016, which coincidentally is when her older sister took off at the Olympics in Rio. Simone won four gold medals and one bronze at the 2016 Summer Games.
Adria peaked at Level 9 of gymnastics in 2015, according to MyMeetScores.com. Junior Olympics levels range from levels 1-10 before upgrading to the elite status. Once an athlete reaches elite status, they can compete at the Olympic trials and other professional tournaments.
Adria would train with her older sister up until she left the sport in 2016.
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