I’ve grown up watching Simone Biles at the Olympics . I was in high school when she dominated in Rio, I was in grad school when she got the twisties in Tokyo, and I’ve been eagerly anticipating watching the Paris Olympics and her triumphant comeback. Through all of this, I, and many other people, have looked up to her as a role model, and seeing her return to the biggest stage and take home historic gold medals at this year’s games has been empowering.
However, what makes these wins even sweeter is knowing how hard she worked for them, which is illustrated in her Netflix documentary Simone Biles: Rising . Not long before the Paris Olympics began on the 2024 TV schedule , Biles dropped the first two episodes of her docuseries on Netflix. It chronicled what happened in Tokyo and the work she’s put in mentally and physically to get back to peak health and to this year’s Olympics.
And I have to tell you, watching it before she won the team, all-around and vault gold medals at the games this year made the wins even better, here’s why: You’re Taken Back To Tokyo As Simone Biles Explains Why She Couldn’t Compete The documentary begins by breaking down the Tokyo Olympics in detail. At the finals for the women’s gymnastics team event, Biles famously got the "twisties." I remember at the time that I hadn’t heard of that before, and I quickly learned that it meant she felt like she was losing control and getting lost in the air.
The Olympian explained what was going .