In baseball and golf and basketball, they call it the “Yips.” It’s the sudden loss of motor skills and muscle memory that makes it nearly impossible for a second baseman to throw accurately to first, for a golfer to sink ‘gimme’ putts they’ve been regularly making since high school, for an NBA player to hit even 50% of his free throws.
In gymnastics, this mental block is known as the “Twisties” — a brain-and-body disconnect that causes one to lose the ability to sense the body’s movement and position in space. You can actually get lost in mid-air and find yourself at risk for serious injury.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the great and generationally talented Simone Biles, who was already considered by many to be the most dominant gymnast of all time and was the favorite to win at least four gold medals, stunned the world when she withdrew from most of the competitions, citing mental health concerns.
“I felt like I was in jail with my own brain and body,” says Biles in “Simone Biles Rising,” directed with style and grace by Katie Walsh. The four-part Netflix documentary series arrives just in time for the Paris Olympics, where Biles will attempt to complete a comeback that already has seen her winning her sixth all-around title last October at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. (Two of the four episodes were made available for critics.)
This is a valuable piece of documentary filmmaking, not only for its celebration of the amazing career of the 27-year-old Biles, but for shining a light on the mental health issues that can be at least as damaging and problematic for an athlete’s life as any physical injuries. Whether you’re a hardcore gymnastics devotee or a more casual fan who tends to get interested only when the Olympics roll around, it’s hard to imagine anyone not being blown away by Biles’ incredible artistry, and her willingness to let us into her life and see how she is coping while under the unblinking glare of the spotlight.
“Simone Biles Rising” follows the now familiar and always effective Netflix sports documentary formula that relies on the subject allowing the cameras and mics to trail them whether they’re in training or in the midst of a competition or spending time at home.
In the premiere episode we see Biles with her NFL player husband Jonathan Owens (who signed a contract with the Bears last March) as they walk through the house they’re building in Houston, with Owens pointing out the walls where they can hang memorabilia such as his jerseys, and Simone’s Wheaties Box and Vogue magazine cover.
There are light moments, as when they recall their first date, when Jonathan was startled by Simone’s diminutive stature (she’s 4-foot-8) or when Simone took in a game in Green Bay when Owens was still with the Packers. And there are more serious conversations, e.g., Simone talking about how supportive Jonathan was in the post-Tokyo weeks and months, and Simone noting that after Jonathan saw what she had gone through, he started seeing a sports psychologist regularly.
Biles talks about how it felt when her exit from the Tokyo Games resulted in tweets and headlines such as, “Quitter of the Year!” and “Simone Biles and the Cult of the Quitter.” She opens a door and shows us “the forbidden Olympic closet,” filled items related to the 2020 Games. (“Tokyo Team USA pins … we were supposed to trade. … Opening and Closing Ceremony uniform. … Here’s my number. … I used to sit here and just cry and cry…”) It’s as if she has placed the past in perspective but is still keeping it close. Literally in a closet.
The series also devotes ample time to interviews with teammates, coaches and journalists, and with Simone’s wonderfully supportive parents, who are actually her biological grandparents and took in Simone and her sister Adria when they were young and adopted them and raised them as their own. There’s also a brief but informative history of the sport, with discussions about how pioneering women of color such as Betty Okino, Dominique Dawes and Gabby Douglas changed the narrative and the face of women’s gymnastics.
Mostly, though, this is the story of Simone’s return. Even as we marvel at the footage of Biles pulling off moves that would make a superhero green with envy (she has a total of five elements named after her in either the Vault, the Balance Beam or Floor Exercise), Simone reminds us, “People put you on these pedestals. I’m begging to be human.”
The bet here is that Simone Biles will be one of the conquering heroes of the Paris Olympics — but whether she literally ascends to the highest pedestal once again or falls short, we should always honor her request to remember she’s only human after all.