Simone Biles Rising episode 1 ending explained: What did it reveal about Biles' controversial 2020 Olympics decision?

Simone Biles Rising premiered on the streaming platform on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. The newest Netflix sports docuseries delivers a closer look into the artistic gymnast's "And Still I Rise" journey back to the world stage.

Set in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, Simone Biles entered the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under the spotlight and the moniker "the greatest athlete of all time." However, Biles delivered a shockingly disappointing performance during the vault final.

Simone Biles Rising episode 1, titled "Write me down in history," revealed the struggle and pressure she felt at the time, forcing her to pull out from most of the rest of the events and the widespread backlash and criticism she received after, with people calling her a "quitter."

The official logline of episode 1 reads:

"While preparing for a comeback, Simone reflects on intense pressures, internal battles—and a pivotal vault in Tokyo that turned everything upside down."

Directed by Katie Walsh, the first episode of Simone Biles Rising revealed the gymnast's perspective before she decided to withdraw from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Interviews from the series cast include family members, coaches and fellow gymnast champions like Aly Rausman, Betty Okin and Dominique Dawes giving a multi-faceted view of Simone Biles' journey from Tokyo to her eventual return to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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Simone Biles Rising revealed she knew what was coming at 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Before the Tokyo Olympics began, the lead-up had already put Biles under immense pressure.

Being called the "GOAT" in gymnastics meant she had to perform and perform well. But during the vault finals, the once hailed as "the greatest of all time" athlete couldn't perfect the routine she had done so many times. Her "disappointing" performance was caught on camera, disappointment clear on her face.

However, while news of her opting out from the games was sudden for the viewers, the gymnast already had an idea of what was coming at the Tokyo Olympics. She revealed at the beginning of Simone Biles Rising episode 1.

"I've always had really good intuition about things ... Like, freaky. I never tell people about it, but I can feel a lot of things that are going to happen before it does happen. And unfortunately, I felt that way about the (2020 Tokyo) Olympics."

It was revealed in the Netflix sports documentary that she suffered a case of "The Twisties."

US gymnastics coach and former gymnast Laurent Landi explained the condition— it's when the brain and the body don't communicate with each other anymore. And most of the time, the cause is unrelated to gymnastics.

Describing experiencing the Twisties during her Tokyo performance in the doc, Simone Biles said:

"To me, it felt silent. It felt like I was in jail in my own brain and body."

Losing her mind-body connection led to the gymnast falling short during her vault move, and she said in the documentary that she knew from that one moment that it wasn't a one-time thing.

While Biles can be seen mouthing, "I'm okay," to her coach and teammates soon after, she had to do what was best for her and the team, and in the end, out of fear of injury, she opted out of the final competition.

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Simone Biles was affected by people calling her a "quitter" after her shocking withdrawal in Tokyo

While Simone Biles remained in the Tokyo Olympics, she was no longer a competitor.

She was watching the competition from the sidelines and instead of participating, she was only there to support her teammates. At one point in Simone Biles Rising episode 1, the gymnast said that if she could run away at the time, she would have.

Meanwhile, she was a hot topic in and outside of Tokyo, with many netizens and personalities calling her out for "abandoning her team" and for being a "quitter." The documentary showed a series of comments, both written and spoken, about how disappointing she was as an athlete and how she was undeserving of being called someone's role model.

Simone Biles Rising also featured the 1996 victory of an injured Kerri Strug who continued with her performances even after an obvious injury, leaving her limping and unable to stand after landing her routine.

It followed the narrative people were pushing that she's a quitter. At one point, Biles was called "the biggest quitter in sports."

Simone Biles (Image via Netflix)

All the negative and hateful comments and criticism on social media affected Biles, who said in a sit-down interview part of the series that she could only silence the noise for so long until "it gets to you." She also said:

"The people that were yelling, saying mean things were way louder than all of the support. You just feel like a big disappointment."

However, not one to be broken down by comments from other people, Simone Biles gave her cheeky response to those mocking her "mental stress" reason for bailing at the Olympics:

"We already carry that weight on our own. Lile, I really don't need your two cents. And not your two cents because you guys can't even do a cartwheel, so, yeah."

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Simone Biles didn't start training seriously until 2023

Simone Biles at the Tokyo Olympics (Image via Netflix)

Besides the immediate aftermath of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles Rising episode 1 also featured Biles's perspective in the years that followed.

One revelation from the docuseries was that she was in and out of the gym for the first one and a half years after the Olympics and didn't start training seriously until 2023.

Simone Biles Rising sees her going back to the gym shortly after the Olympics but not practicing her usual routines. Simone Biles went back to the basics, from flipping back and forth on the trampoline to "see what she can and cannot do."

However, her return wasn't smooth sailing, and at one point in the narration in the Netflix series, Biles said that she was getting lost a lot:

"A couple of days I'd be okay, and then I'd be lost for a couple of days."

Elsewhere in the Simone Biles Rising, her teammate, Jocelyn Roberson, said about Biles:

"She doubts just as much as any other gymnast."

Simone Biles at the 2024 World Championships (Image via Netflix)

Biles also talked about quitting the sport for good, saying that she thought about quitting 500,000 times, and she would have if it weren't for those who supported her, including "the girls," her teammates.

Coming to the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Simone Biles Rising episode 1 ended on a cliffhanger as Biles was trying to land the Yurchenko double pike in hopes for the skill to be named after her.

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Watch Part 1 of Simone Biles Rising, the first two episodes of the limited series, now streaming on Netflix.