The Netflix series Simone Biles Rising is, on the one hand, exactly what you would expect: a documenting of Biles' remarkable career, with an emphasis on her unexpected withdrawal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which were delayed until 2021) and her preparation for the Paris Olympics, which are under way. Much of the story is well-known, particularly her utter dominance of her sport in the last decade or so. And it's not the first time anyone has tried to shed light on the mental health vulnerabilities of elite athletes, even at the Olympics: That's also the topic of the HBO film The Weight of Gold (which I highly recommend).
What makes this series timely is that it works as something of an education, or at least a reminder, for audiences just as the Olympics start. The message: We don't know these athletes. When Biles dropped out of most of the competition in Tokyo, some things were known.
She talked about having "the twisties," a condition familiar to gymnasts in which the athlete loses the ability to know and control where they are in the air. But a lot of commentators and social media jerks, as you see in the series, blew off that explanation and declared she should have just pushed through, that she just quit, and that a strong person would have continued on no matter what. What many people featured in the series make clear is that when the twisties hit an athlete, the risk is not just that you'll be embarrassed or lose.
As 1992 Olympic medalist Betty Okino says — with .