The first half of Simone Biles Rising is out now. The latest sports docuseries chronicles Simone Biles's comeback as one of the most decorated athletes in the world.
Simone Biles detailed the "twisties" that forced her to drop out in the middle of the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020 in the previous episode as well as her perspective on being branded a "quitter" for her decision.
Simone Biles Rising episode 2, titled "I will not be broken down," documents the gymnast prioritizing her mental health in the aftermath of the Tokyo Olympics and getting her confidence back on the mat as she prepares for the Worlds and the 2024 Olympics.
The episode 2 plotline of the Netflix sports documentary reads:
"At the World Championships, all eyes are on Simone. But as she looks toward Paris, experiences from the past are shaping how she thinks about her future."
Produced by Religion of Sports and directed by Katie Walsh, the second episode of the docuseries brought family members, friends, coaches and teammates for talking head interviews to provide a multi-faceted look at Simone Biles's comeback story.
Simone Biles Rising episode 2 sees Simone Biles prioritizing her mental health
After the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, Simone Biles, once touted as "the greatest of all time," aka the "GOAT," became the subject of criticism. But amidst all that, like the episode title, she can't be broken down. Episode 2 sees her becoming a champion outside the mat — a champion for mental health.
Simone Biles spent her gymnastics hiatus, where she was in and out of the gym for one and a half years, as she revealed in Simone Biles Rising episode 1, doing interviews and speaking engagements to talk about mental health and why it's important, especially for gymnasts.
Earlier in Simone Biles Rising episode 2, she admitted to feeling anxious about people thinking that she's trying to be an "expert" on the subject or telling others what to feel. But she said in the doc:
"Don't get me wrong. I do not have it all together, but I can be there with you guys every step of the way while we figure this out together."
Besides speaking about mental health publicly, the gymnast is also prioritizing her own mental health, and part of that is spending time with people closest to her. That includes her husband Jonathan Owens, her sister and her parents.
In Simone Biles Rising episode 2, she detailed how she spends what she considers her off-season time, which is visiting and supporting her husband during his games in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The second episode of the series sees her enjoying the games with the rest of the football wives and girlfriends and participating in the "wave." At one point, she said offscreen:
"Before, I kind of thought, like, it was end-all, be-all. I have to be in the gym. But now I'm taking a lot more personal time."
Another part of making sure she's mentally healthy is opening up about past traumas, which opened previous issues and controversies involving the entirety of US gymnastics.
At one point, Simone Biles Rising episode 2 featured her experience at the gymnastics camp at the Karolyi ranch. Recalling one instance while at the camp, Simone Biles said she was told that she was "worthless to the team" after not sticking a vault.
The Simone Biles Rising docuseries also recalled the Larry Nassar controversy. Talking about the time when everything came out and the Olympic doctor was sentenced for his abuse, Biles recalled calling her mom while she was "crying so hard" at the time. At one point, the documentary showed footage of a crying Biles saying:
"You had one job. You literally hand one job, and you couldn't protect us."
However, she admitted that, following the Tokyo Olympics, she was able to tackle her issues and freed herself "from a lot of that big stuff."
Talking to her therapist also helped, especially when it comes to instances where she's having trouble during meets. Through it, she said that she learned ways to stay calm through visualization — thinking of the beach where she feels most serene and thinking of the color red to make her feel powerful.
Simone Biles gets a 5th skill named after her
Her comeback into the world stage after her two-year hiatus from international gymnastics was one of the highlights of Simone Biles Rising docuseries. Talking about the "mini Olympics," the Olympian said:
"Every other year at Worlds, I'm like, "I wanna place top three on each event," but this one was just to get back out there, compete again, and for me that's like, a big hurrah."
While she wasn't focused on the medals at the Worlds, she entered the competition with one goal in mind — perfectly land the Yurchenko double pike on the vault and have the skill named after her.
Shortly after landing the highly complicated vault, the Simone Biles Rising docuseries captured the happiness in the gymnast's face as she said:
"I think that's my best vault here yet."
Becoming the first one to land the skill in the Worlds means the vault will be named after her, now called Biles II.
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Simone Biles won her sixth all-around title at Worlds
Going into the Worlds, her coach Cecil Landi gave a glimpse of what Biles is trying to achieve with her comeback, saying that "she hasn't lost a World Championships that she has competed at," which she thinks is "crazy."
Talking about her achievements at Worlds, Simone Biles agreed with her coach's comments, saying that she knows "it's not normal." At one point in Simone Biles Rising episode 2, she talked about her comeback being personal because she's been "fighting my demons for so long."
In the end, she won the all-around title, adding to her collection of World Championship titles, which is now her sixth. She said:
"I've been training all year, so it was just such a relief, so much excitement, so much hard work paid off."
Offscreen, a commentator can be heard shouting at one point in the Netflix series:
"Simone Biles absolutely, well and truly, back at the top in her career. There is no doubting her status. ... Simon Biles wins all-around title in the style of the champion that she is. ... Six World Championship titles in All-Around gymnastics!"
Simone Biles ended the sequence cheekily asking Siri how many world and Olympic medals she has before laughing when Siri answered wrong, saying that she has 19 medals instead of 37.
Part 1 of Simone Biles Rising is now streaming on Netflix. Release dates for Part 2 of the docuseries remain unconfirmed but are likely to feature what happens at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, which kicks off on July 26.
Also read: Simone Biles Rising: Where is Gabby Douglas now?