As Simone Biles prepares herself to compete in the Paris Olympic Games starting on July 26, Netflix is releasing her documentary “Simone Biles: Rising” on July 17.
Biles made headlines at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 when she withdrew from various events to focus on her mental health. Biles said her main concern in withdrawing from the team event was costing her teammates a medal but it was a decision that she had made for her betterment.
After the Tokyo Olympics setback, Biles again came to her own winning gold medals at almost every event she participated in. She grabbed a historic ninth all-around crown recently on 2 June at the 2024 U.S. Gymnastic Championships in Ft. Worth, Texas establishing herself as one of the best gymnasts of our generation.
“Simone Biles: Rising” On Netflix
“Simone Biles: Rising” will take the viewers behind the scenes over her journey of the past four years. “She’s the greatest in the world. She’s also human,” Netflix announced this week, describing the production as a “sports series documenting one of the most powerful comebacks in history”.
c
“We are all the authors of our own journeys, and I am in a place in my life where I’m comfortable with who I am and what I’ve been through as an athlete, but most of all, as a person,” Biles said in an official statement. “Gymnastics is what I do but it’s not who I am, and I’m excited for people to see another side of me outside of competition.”
“I know there are young girls out there who look to me for inspiration and are faced with similar challenges, and my hope is that this documentary helps to empower them to be true to who they are and never give up on their dreams,” she added.
Netflix released a trailer of the first part of the series which is set to release on July 17. In the trailer, Biles speaks about the continuously changing opinions of the public their impacts on the athletes.
“People love to watch the come up. As soon as you win, ‘God I hate her’,” she said. “But everything that happened, it’s a trauma response.”
She also explains how her family, friends, and other close people helped her to gain motivation despite regular thoughts of wanting to quit.
“I wanted to quit like 500,000 times and I would have if it weren’t for my people,I knew it would be a long journey, but to me it wasn’t done. Sometimes you have to take that power back”
About The Documentary
The documentary has been directed by Katie Walsh with Gotham Chopra, Ameeth Sankaran, Giselle Parets, and Janey Miller as executive producers. c: “She’s bounced back, and she’s really opened my eyes”, he said.
Fellow American gymnast Aly Raisman also features in the documentary and talks about Biles’ return to the sport. “I know that she’s expected to win all the Gold medals, but even the fact she’s trying to come back is really amazing”.
The episodes will cover everything from training sessions, the build-up to the Olympics to some of warmer moments of her outside life.
With the Paris Olympics set to kick off on July 26, fans of Biles around the world will tune into the documentary beforehand.
Simone Biles Rising – Part 1 releases on Netflix on July 17.
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
