The documentary on the life of Simone Biles: here’s what we discovered while watching it

Simone Biles is universally recognized as the strongest gymnast of all time: the results, the records, the medals and the popularity achieved say so. His life, at just 27 years old, is already as rich as the plot of a film where the harshest aspects mix with the desire for revenge and where sport is the perfect opportunity for a unique talent to blossom. We have learned a lot about Simone Biles since 2013 when, at the World Championships in Antwerp, this sixteen-year-old with braces and a fuchsia bodysuit took center stage by winning two golds, a silver and a bronze. Now the series reveals more about what has happened to her in recent years between training, competitions and private life Simone Biles Rising – Towards the Olympicsthe documentary film available on Netflix.

In the first two episodes the story starts from post-Tokyo 2020, a very difficult Olympic edition for Biles who arrived under the odds after the triumph in Rio 2016 and, instead, had to fight against monsters bigger than her. The images of his withdrawal from the team final went around the world as did his statements regarding the twistiesthose gaps that caused a disconnect between her mind and body and made her lose control of the evolutions in the air. Hence the decision to stop to avoid danger and to participate only in the beam competition, where she won the bronze medal.

In the documentary Biles talks about the adverse conditions of those Olympic Games linked mainly to Covid, which did not allow anyone to have moments of leisure, to enjoy the Olympic village or relationships with colleagues and which, therefore, only led them to think about gymnastics with a heavy mental load. In addition, the lack of family and friends and empty stands during competitions have had their negative effects on sporting performance. Biles left Tokyo destroyed. «For everyone the question wasn’t whether I would win, but how much. And instead something broke, so much so I thought I would never compete again», he admits. The return to the gym, however, happens, but it is gradual, with very little training in the first year and a half. In the rest of the time she takes care of herself and dedicates herself to psychological therapy and her loved ones, starting with her parents and her husband Jonathan Owens, an American football player.

This journey into Biles’ most private and personal environment is an opportunity to tell more about her lifewhich started uphill due to the serious drug problems of the mother who, for this reason, was deprived of custody of her four children. When Simone is about three years old, however, her grandfather Ron and his wife Nellie decide to adopt the two youngest girls and give them stability and a family, while Ron’s sister will welcome the other two children. The therapy brings Biles’ traumas back to the surface, some of which are connected to the sexual abuse of Larry Nassar, the doctor of the American national artistic gymnastics team, convicted thanks to the courage of many gymnasts who reported him, including the stars Simone Biles , Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Gabby Douglas. The series addresses the topic of the toxicity of certain environments in gymnastics where the line between pushing the athlete to do better and harassing him is too often crossed and where, especially in the past, attention was rarely paid to both physical and mental health.

The great lesson that comes from Biles’ words is the one that we have been hearing more and more often in recent times from various athletes: “Sport is part of my life, but it’s not my whole life.” After the bitter disappointment in Tokyo and after that mental breakdown, Biles understands that it’s not just gymnastics. This is why her return in 2023 is even more significant, because it happens without the worry of having to win big, but only thanks to the awareness of wanting to be there for the love of sport and for herself. «I decide when and how to finish» and in fact at the 2023 World Championships he will make a return in style with four golds, a silver and a new element with his name, the fifth.

The last two episodes of Simone Biles Rising – Towards the Olympics they open with the celebrations for Simone Biles’ twenty-seventh birthday, an anniversary that brings with it the terror of time marching forward in a sport like gymnastics where careers last the blink of an eye. At the center of the episodes are the American Trials, the decisive races to establish the composition of the team that would represent the USA in Paris. And if Biles always shows dazzling smiles in front of the cameras, in private she experiences great nervousness like any young woman faced with an important test. This exam will be passed with flying colors and will give Biles the certainty of her third Olympic participation, also making her the “oldest” American gymnast to go to the Games since the 1950s.

If the atmosphere was relaxed in Rio 2016, now the expectations continue to be enormous, as in Tokyo. The images of Simone Biles are everywhere, she is one of the faces of the Games, she is the woman of records and everyone wants to see her. At the Bercy Arena in Paris there is a parade of stars for her: from Lady Gaga to Nicole Kidman, from Ariana Grande to Natalie Portman, from Snoop Dogg to Tom Cruise. But once again everything seems to go wrong when he hurts his calf during qualifying. Biles’ first thought is, “They’ll think I want to quit again.” Who? The public, the spectators, the whole world who is witnessing that scene and a little hopes to see it collapse. His mind goes back to three years ago and brings back all the disappointment and pain he felt after reading the comments on social media after withdrawing from the team competition in Tokyo. Back then the criticism was fierce both online and on TV. Many reproached her for having abandoned her companions and called her a cowardbut over time the disparaging comments were not limited to gymnastics, but also touched on her appearance, her hairstyles and even her husband. The solution? «For a while I removed the possibility of leaving comments on my posts on Instagram and I deleted Twitter, now I’m fine».

Through the voices of Biles Laurent and Cecile Landi’s coaches, former athletes, physiotherapists, journalists and family members you can feel all the stress experienced during the Olympic days. «After winning four golds in Rio, people now expect five or six. Everyone wants gold, but do they know that there are other medals too?”. Not if your name is Simone Biles. Yet the so-called “redemption tour” will truly be a success for her with three golds and a silver. But above all the joy of sharing those results with the family in the stands, no pain in the mind, some inevitably in the body. And, perhaps, also the serenity of losing for once. Why the most beautiful scene of her Paris Games is that of the awards ceremony of the floor exercise competition where the Brazilian Rebeca Andrade wins and both Biles and Chiles on the podium, bronze medal, they bow to celebrate their rival. There is nothing left to prove, in Paris you can also enjoy the beauty of sport and friendship. And now? “Are we about to say goodbye to something we love?” asks director Katie Walsh’s voiceover. Maybe. 27 years is a long time for gymnastics, 31 is a long time and that’s what Simone Biles would have in Los Angeles 2028. But the dream of the Olympics at home could be bigger than any personal data.

Simone Biles Rising – Towards the Olympics it gives us a more human image of the champion and shows us scenes of everyday life such as the one in which she goes to see the housework with her husband or the one in which she gets her hair styled by her mother before a race. In the midst of many considerations on a tough job, which involves early but short careers and constant pain, but which also allows you to experience unique moments of adrenaline. The traumas, the abuse, the fear of other people’s expectations, the physical and psychological falls «and still I rise», as his tattoo says, «but I will get up again».

The final episodes of Simone Biles: Rising are available on Netflix.