Simone Biles: Rising (2024) s01e02 Episode Script

1
[waves rolling]
[gentle music playing]
[Simone] No matter who you are,
what sport you're in,
everybody's gonna paint
the biggest picture for you,
and it's up to you
to live up to that hype.
[overlapping chatter]
[Simone] But just, like,
being a voice, being a leader,
top team USA,
face of the Olympics
[woman] She is looking to help others
feel comfortable about
prioritizing their own mental health.
[applause]
[Simone] God,
there's just so much to carry.
It's a lot.
With mental health,
everybody's battle is different.
I never want them
to put me at the forefront and be like,
"Here's the expert."
"She's gonna tell you how you're
gonna feel. She has it all figured out."
And I'm like, "Whoa. 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."
People just, like,
put you on these pedestals.
You know, I'm just,
like, begging to just be human.
[commentator] The Yurchenko double pike.
No other woman is attempting this.
[Svetlana] I don't know if anybody
even think how difficult it is.
[Simone] I was so nervous.
It's been two years since I've competed
on an international stage.
That setup, that arena,
just, like, takes you back to Tokyo.
[commentator] Wow. It was shocking.
I believe
she only did a one-and-a-half twist.
[Simone] Most of the time,
I'm afraid of if I miss my leg,
I'll probably land on my head.
If you slip your hand,
I mean, you could literally be paralyzed.
[Laurent] You feel good?
Warm up? Warm-up felt good?
Okay, same thing. Even more.
Like this in the air. More open, okay?
[Simone] You get that self-doubt
of, "Can I do it again?"
I don't wanna do something stupid.
Everything happens so fast.
Anything could go wrong.
[cheering and applause]
[commentator] Unbelievable.
- [chuckles]
- [commentator 2] She did it!
[commentator 3] We are living
through history yet again for Simone.
[Simone] I wasn't thinking along the lines
of perfection like I normally am.
- I know!
- [woman] You did it!
[Laurent] Very good.
[Simone] This one I was like, "Just land
on your feet, salute, and you're good.
"Like, it's named after you. It's done."
[commentator 3] To stick a skill like that
where you're flipping so fast
that you can't even spot
the ground really, it's truly incredible.
[commentator 4] This is
her fifth named element.
Not her first. Not her second. Her fifth.
Seeing her hit
was the best feeling in that day.
The pike will now
be known as the Biles II.
I think she forgets a lot who she is
and how good she is at what she does.
[commentator] Simone Biles continues
to push the boundaries of what's possible.
I'm just happy. Thank God it's over.
[commentator] And she will go
to Paris as the one to beat.
NOW OFFICIAL: BILES IS THE GOA
[cheering and applause]
Oh, okay! Okay.
He just got an interception.
You know, everybody wants a little bit
of your time during Olympic year.
And you can make them shorter
if you need to too.
Unless they like the length.
It's fun to dress up
and not have to worry about
putting on a leo and doing gymnastics.
So, mentally,
it's good to have that balance
and not just always be thinking about gym.
[man] Good job. Great job.
[Simone] Whenever I was younger,
I wasn't, like, as confident.
[man] All right,
let's try another check here.
[Simone] I would just, like, come
to the shoots and be, like, terrified.
[woman] Let your personality come through.
They are so excited.
[Simone] Like, "I don't model.
I don't do this. I don't do that."
But you kind of learn to step out of
your comfort zone at some of these shoots.
- [Simone] We're walking
- [woman] Should be a fun day.
[Simone] Yep!
- [woman] You want some hand warmers?
- [Simone] I have some. Thank you.
- Hey, Julia.
- Hello.
Oh my God.
- [Simone] You look great.
- [Julia] You look amazing. Amazing
[Simone] People, they love to watch
the come up. They want to see you win.
As soon as you win, "God I hate her!
God, I can't wait until she fails."
It's just, like,
what is wrong with people?
[woman laughs]
[Simone] People hate my hair
for meet days.
"Her hair is all over the place!
Look at it! It's crazy!"
But then again, we do it by ourself.
We're not professionals.
You just can't win.
[woman] We're coming back to
first position. We're gonna do it again.
We're gonna go back again.
[woman] Yep, come back down
the line again.
[Simone] I think only the comments
after 2016 bothered me for hair.
- [overlapping insults]
- [woman 1] I cannot stand
- [woman 2] Simone Biles' hairstyle
- [woman 3] Just, like, disgusting.
"Simone Biles' hair looks so crunchy."
It's actually, like,
very healthy and not crunchy.
Oh, that is hilarious.
People are way too comfortable
commenting things.
So I try to silence the noise.
I think the beauty standard
everything is just too much.
[cheering and applause]
[Onnie] Gymnastics 20 years ago
and 30 years ago,
the general culture had a lot of rigidity
around your physical appearance,
your eating, your everything.
[commentator] Now here is
the lovely Boginskaya.
[Onnie] Looking in a particular way
was really important,
and so hair was a big to-do
in the sport of gymnastics.
Everyone had their hair
in a particular updo.
It was very clear
that the standard of what is beautiful
includes blond, straight hair.
[cheering and applause]
[Onnie] And so for Black girls who have
naturally curly, kinky, coily hair,
it automatically just sets us
outside of the possibility of beautiful.
I know what it's like
being the only Black girl on the team
and not having a role model.
Thankfully we had
Betty Okino, Dominique Dawes,
and Gabby Douglas and all that stuff,
but it wasn't till, like, later, you know?
[Okino] It started with Luci Collins
in the '80 Olympics.
But that team
never actually got to compete.
And then Diane didn't actually make
the Olympic team because of her ankle.
So Dominique and I were
the first two American Black women
to compete on an Olympic gymnastics team.
[announcer speaking Catalan]
[cheering and applause]
I felt being judged,
and I felt being judged
because my body type
was not what they embraced.
My hair wasn't what they were looking for.
The coaches would push on my feet
until my bones started popping out
'cause I have flat feet.
They would wanna see a certain body type
and a body look that was not me,
and so I knew that who I was
was automatically a deduction.
When we think about
sort of Black women gymnasts
and their position in the sport,
we've had, like, Betty Okino
in the shadow of Kim Zmeskal,
and we've had Dominique Dawes
in the shadow of Shannon Miller.
So we kind of live in,
"It's okay for Black women to 'succeed'
within the shadow,"
but when they deviate
people get a little unraveled.
[commentator] This is one of
the most anticipated days in the Olympics,
when one woman stands above everyone else.
[commentator 2] And we have got
a real battle!
[cheering and applause]
[commentator 2] It's looking pretty golden
for this girl right here!
Gabby Douglas, the first African American
to win
the individual All-Around gold medal.
I was like, "Oh my gosh!"
And it was such an exciting time
for everyone who looked like us.
[Onnie] It was a beautiful performance,
and it felt like within hours
[reporter] So why,
on one of the biggest nights of her life,
a trending topic on Twitter was her hair?
[Onnie] She was only 16 years old,
and people were critiquing her hair,
her presentation, her makeup.
She just won the Olympics,
and you guys are talking about her hair?
People are like, "Does not compute!"
"This is not what the crowning jewel
of the Olympics,
the All-Around gymnastics champion
is supposed to look like. Like, do-over."
- Is it really that easy to brush it off?
- Gymnastics has taught me a lot of things.
To be disciplined
and just don't worry about it.
I just baffles me how that narrative can,
you know, take center stage
over what these young girls have done
and the impact that they're making.
[reporter] It has been thrilling
to see Simone Biles back
in international competition and thriving,
and tonight she is going
for a sixth world All-Around title.
- [Simone] What kind of waffles are these?
- Okay, I
Of course, the powdered is the powdered.
- [Simone] Sweet waffles?
- [Nellie] Yes.
- [Simone] Okay.
- [Nellie] And fruits, if you'd like.
- [Simone] Mm-mm. Too healthy.
- [Nellie] Let me go wash.
- Dad, are you gonna have some waffles?
- [Ron] No thank you.
I had breakfast earlier.
[Simone] I haven't had breakfast once
since I've been here. Is this chocolate?
[Nellie] Uh-huh.
There's chocolate, strawberry.
[Simone] I'll do
a little bit of this chocolate.
I used to always say, "Do something
that scares you every single day,"
and God is like, "You will."
"This vault? Every single day.
Your floor routine, every single day."
And I'm like, "Great."
- [Nellie] Everyone's going tonight, right?
- [Simone] Yeah, they'll be in the crowd.
Are you just doing the top?
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.
So whatever happens happens,
but I'm not thinking about medal count.
- Are y'all sitting in the same seats?
- [Nellie] Pretty much.
- Pretty much. Higher I think.
- [Simone] It's in that far corner?
She likes to know
exactly where we're sitting
so she knows where we're at.
It calms her down.
Dad has, uh has binoculars.
- [Ron] Yes, I do.
- [Nellie] The only way he can see you.
She's been in a good place.
At least, that's how she appears to me.
You just never know.
Once we're all in that arena,
things could change tonight,
but right now,
I still think she's in a great place.
[commentator] Welcome all
for the women's All-Around Final
at the World Championships
of Artistic Gymnastics.
The gymnast with
the highest total after all four events
will be the world champion.
[commentator 2] But the battle
for the podium is bound to be intense.
[commentator] Particularly with
the Olympic Games on the horizon.
[Simone] Going into Worlds,
I had five All-Around titles.
She has not lost a World Championships
that she has competed at.
That's crazy.
Now, I know that's not normal.
I know it's not normal.
The comeback is more personal
because I had been fighting
my own demons for so long.
[commentator] Simone Biles.
We don't know what we'll see from her.
She took some time away
at the end of the last Olympics.
[Cécile] It's always
in the back of her mind,
what happened in Tokyo,
but she's coming out on the other side.
[commentator 2] This vault is going
to be a Cheng.
It is very difficult.
[cheering and applause]
[commentator] And it is
an enormous opening to her competition.
15.1. That will not do too badly at all.
- I think that's my best vault here yet.
- [Cécile] Yes, it was. For sure.
[Simone] There were
such loud voices in my head
telling me, "Don't put
this kind of pressure on yourself."
"You don't have to do it
if you don't want to."
But I was like, "Know what? No."
"I really have to prove to myself
that I can do this."
I was the most nervous
I've probably ever been for a competition.
[commentator] Simone Biles
absolutely, well and truly, back
at the top in her career
that there is no doubting her status.
The score is enormous! 58.339!
Simone Biles wins the All-Around title
in the style of the champion that she is.
[Simone] I've been training all year,
so it was just such a relief,
so much excitement,
so much hard work paid off.
[commentator] Six World Championship
titles in All-Around gymnastics!
[Simone] I looked over at my coaches,
Laurent and Cécile,
and, you know, they were in Tokyo with me.
Like, they've gone through
the emotional roller coaster
that I've gone through.
So they were looking at each other
like, "Don't cry!"
I couldn't even look at them,
'cause I was like, "Oh no."
"This is not about to happen."
[commentator] And real signs of emotion
on the face of Simone Biles.
[Simone] That night the podium
was full of Black-girl magic,
and that's something
that's never ever happened
at a World Championships before.
[cheering]
[Simone] Growing up in the sport,
that's something you could only dream
of seeing or being able to witness,
and I think
a lot of girls needed to see that.
To all be on one podium together,
and that's the three best in the world,
I hope it inspired them.
[commentator] Simone Biles
going to the Olympic Games
as the reigning world All-Around champion.
[Simone] Hey, Siri,
how many world
and Olympic medals does Simone Biles have?
[chuckles]
Siri's wrong. Siri said 19.
We're on Google. We got it. It's 37.
[indistinct chatter]
[laughing]
[Jonathan] Man,
you look like you at US Open.
[chuckles]
The Owens Open. Come on.
All right!
I said I was good.
[Jonathan] Four-zero.
[girl] Growing up, Simone,
she was always fun to be around.
Everyone She always
was making people laugh.
- We need to get
- Ten-six!
[girl laughs]
You can't even return the serve?
Me and Simone fought all the time.
All the time.
Sideline warning.
Ref, get her.
[Jonathan] Ten-five!
[Simone] Ref!
[Adria] When we were younger,
like, I thought it was, like,
oh my God, like, she's so bossy.
Yeah, okay. Bossy? I would say protective.
The pressure's on! Can't get scraped
[Simone] We were in foster care together,
so I felt like she was my little kid,
so I think that's where
some of the bossiness came from.
- I need to be on that side.
- [Simone] No, you don't.
Now I know she was trying to protect me,
so I think it was like a big-sister thing.
- Ooh!
- [screams] No!
Come on. Come on.
The winner! [laughs]
- [Jonathan chuckles]
- Whatever.
[Simone] My family's meant the world,
and they've given up and sacrificed a lot
for me to be where I am,
all starting with taking in
my sister and I when we were younger.
I don't remember this thing.
It's been a long time.
This is about to begin right there.
- [Ron] You guys excited about Christmas?
- Yes!
[Ron] Why?
'Cause it's a fun year!
[Ron] It's a what?
It's just I love Christmas!
Stop!
Simone's biological mother
is Ron's daughter,
and, at the time, she had four children.
Look at Grandpa. Look at Grandpa.
See Grandpa?
Look at Grandpa!
Because of her substance abuse,
they needed to take
the children away from her.
- Hi.
- [Simone] I wanna see myself!
Say hi.
[Simone] Adria was a baby.
I'm two, three years old.
There were a lot of times
where you didn't know
what was gonna happen,
where you were gonna end up,
if there was gonna be food on the table.
You didn't know
if Mother was going to come back home.
And you're so young, so you don't
really know how to process that either.
[Nellie] They were in foster care
from six to nine months
before we got them.
Oh. Oh wow. The braids.
- [laughs]
- [man laughs]
[man] Man.
- [Nellie] This is Simone's
- [man] When she first came to us, right?
[Nellie]arrival.
That was how you came from foster care.
[Simone] The little spiral things?
I was very fortunate
to have me and Adria being adopted
by my grandparents,
who are now officially my parents.
And so our two older siblings,
Ashley and Tevin,
got adopted by my aunt Harriet,
which is my dad's sister.
So they stayed in Ohio,
and we came down here to Texas.
[Nellie] I went from Grandma,
and I was perfectly fine with Grandma,
and then when that time came
of being called "Mom,"
that's a powerful word.
And that was probably
the hardest thing for them to do,
is not only bring us in, but to see
if they could repair our trauma.
Yeah, but I remember
going to the foster home.
Sometimes you don't get to stay together.
[Nellie] Because the first time,
you were separated.
[Simone] I'll never forget
where I came from
and how it shaped me
into the person I am today.
I always knew
that I wanted to break boundaries
and statistics.
Whenever you're in foster care
and you come out of it,
the odds are against you.
So for me, I was kind of always that kid
that if somebody told me
I couldn't do something, I would.
[Nellie] She has somehow
rose above those occasion.
Not only does she feel good
doing her sport,
it gives her the control
that only she has,
and I think that she could control it
because she could perfect it.
[Laurent] Do ten laps.
Just be careful of the floor routine.
Level ten. You elites,
you can go over here. It's fine.
Go.
So every time
it's become the Olympic year,
usually shortly after the ball drops,
I have a little bit of a mental breakdown,
and I didn't really have that this time.
[Cécile] Back walkovers
and front walkovers.
[Simone] But last night,
I will say, laying in bed,
whenever I started thinking about
the Olympics and everything,
I kinda started to panic a lot.
Like, my heart was like
It took me awhile to fall asleep,
and I had to, like, calm myself down
and be like, "It's only January.
We still have months of preparation."
But I feel like that feeling is normal
for an Olympic year, for me personally.
[Laurent] She's 70% ready.
We just need reps and numbers,
and and that's it, you know?
We try to get some skills back
and try to see if we can
do a different routine here and there.
Here and then instead of pushing away,
go fall this way.
I know it sounds outrageous,
but, like, in the car, like, you don't
You try not to get hurt. You try not to
Even driving to practice,
I get a little skeptical every day,
and it just doesn't become,
like, everything in the gym.
- Down.
- What do you mean? I'm
Down. When Snap and fall down.
Okay.
So I just try to be, like, careful
everywhere I go
rather than just, like, in the gym,
which sounds insane,
but, like, anything could happen.
So it's just like you just wanna have
a perfect year.
When you guys done, level ten,
go on trampoline.
The elites, you go on straps.
[Simone] I've had
a lot of downtime in the gym.
I was supporting Jonathan so much
and going back and forth to Green Bay,
so that was kind of,
like, my off-season time.
[cheering and applause]
[announcer] It's a beautiful day
for football. Get in here!
[marching band playing]
- [man] Simone, can we get a selfie?
- [woman] We love you!
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
Ah!
[Simone] If you were to tell me
that I was training for the Olympics
and flying to Green Bay every weekend,
I'd be like, "You're out of your mind.
Why would I go to Green Bay?"
Like, "What?"
That just doesn't make sense for us
as a newlywed. [laughs]
And yet here we are.
- Hi, how are you?
- I'm good!
- I love you. Good luck.
- Thank you. You warm?
- [Simone] Yes.
- Good today, huh?
- I got my hand warmers.
- You look good, girl.
[Simone] Thanks.
[laughs] He's so cute.
I never thought
I was gonna be a football wife.
[in baby voice] Come here! Are you tired?
It's nice to come to these games
and to relate to the other girls
and it not just be about gymnastics or me.
And I like it because all the attention
gets to be on Jonathan!
- Whoo!
- [cheering]
[woman] First time
you've been here with the wave?
Yeah! Yeah!
Wait. It's coming back! It's coming back!
- Whoo!
- [cheering]
[Simone] It's really important
for me to be here to support my husband
because he supported me
throughout my career,
and I get to return that favor.
Go, babe!
He came from D2 undrafted,
and I'm so proud
of the work that he's put in.
[cheering]
[Simone] He's made it out the mud,
so I'm proud of him.
Look at their little chant.
Go, Pack, go!
[crowd] Go, Pack, go!
[Simone] It's kind of crazy to me
how it's all panning out.
Before, I kind of thought, like, it was
end-all, be-all. I have to be in the gym.
But now I think I'm taking
a lot more personal time
but making sure whenever I'm in the gym,
I'm focused, getting my work done.
[Simone] Well, everybody's
traveling pretty light.
- Yup.
- [Zoe] Yeah.
[Simone] After Worlds,
I think I'm feeling
a little bit more confident in the gym.
- Zoe, you wanna put your blanket here?
- [Zoe] No.
- [Simone] Okay.
- [Zoe] I'm good.
I'm more comfortable in my skills.
I believe in myself a little bit more.
So I think I really needed that.
- Are we doing physical abilities today?
- [Joscelyn] I think so.
Like, all the new stuff too.
[Simone] Once you make National
or you're invited to a National Team camp,
we have 11 training camps a year.
[Cécile] Come on. Push.
Nice.
[Simone] So I just kind of go there,
do my training,
and it helps me prepare
for an Olympic cycle.
[Cécile] Rushing.
[Zoe] How long have you been coming
to camp? Like, how many years?
[Simone blows raspberry]
Jesus. Okay, how old am I? 26?
I think I've been coming
to camp for over 13 or 14 years.
- I was like
- [Joscelyn] Wow.
- [Simone] Yeah, 13 or something.
- [Joscelyn] That's insane.
[Zoe] Is it different now?
I feel like camp
is a little bit more free spirited.
- [Zoe] Yeah.
- It's not a strict as before.
- [Zoe] Yes.
- [Joscelyn] Yeah.
Whenever I first started,
I just remember going to my first camp,
and they were usually held
at the Karolyi Ranch.
[woman] Okay, girls.
2016. Olympic year.
We have only six months left
to get ready for the Olympics.
[Simone] Growing up in Mártha's era,
I felt like
I kinda had to dim my personality.
Now, mental strength
will be very important.
[Alice] USA Gymnastics
brought the Károlyis on
as coaches to change the system,
and that's what they did,
but it came at a very high price
for the gymnasts.
[Dominique] If you look back,
Béla and Mártha Károlyi
were hailed as this hero and this savior
for the sport of gymnastics.
They became, like,
the standard of excellence
because they came in from Romania
having been coaches of Nadia.
[commentator] A ten has gone on the board.
That is Olympic history
for Nadia Comăneci.
[Dominique] And then immediately after,
Mary Lou.
[commentator 2] There it is!
The gold medal goes to Mary Lou Retton.
[Dominique] The way
the Károlyis trained was
it was an old-world method.
It was what they had brought from Romania.
It was pushing your body
and your mind and yourself,
and then seeing if you're gonna break.
[Mártha] Reach for more perfection.
[Simone] I like to have fun
doing gymnastics,
and after I went to camp,
that was not fun.
And then I realized
they held our careers in their hands.
We couldn't put ourself
on a world team, on our Olympic team.
[Mártha] Everything what you do
from this moment, it counts.
[woman] It was honestly frowned upon
to be, like, silly at practice
or to be laughing.
It was a very Type-A environment
where we wanted to be perfect.
[Onnie] Parents were not allowed
to be at the Ranch,
and you kind of have to give 100% trust
into everything they're doing.
[gymnasts] Thank you, Mártha,
coaches, national staff. Goodbye.
Everybody wanted
to control what they were eating.
You didn't really
have a say on how you felt.
[Simone] I remember not sticking a vault,
just, like, taking
the slightest step forward,
and being told I was worthless
to the team.
It was very military.
You don't really speak.
You don't say much. [chuckles]
You don't have an opinion.
You just were taught to be silent.
[Cécile] And up! Go down.
Even if the cast is bad,
you need to go earlier.
You never go earlier.
[Dominique] But it's not just the Ranch,
and it's not just USA Gymnastics.
Many other American coaches followed suit.
[man] All the way up. All the way.
[Betty] There wasn't
the understanding of rest,
and there certainly wasn't any focus
on the mental health.
[commentator] I don't know if you could
call it words of encouragement
from Coach John Geddert.
We'll just call it words.
[Onnie] We had this sort of distortion
that intensity, pain, anger, negativity,
that's what it takes.
This is the only way
for us to be dominant.
[cheering]
[Onnie] Given so much of the toxicity,
USA Gymnastics having that space
obviously created fertile ground
for someone who has a position of power
to exploit.
[faucet running]
[Aly] Um
Yes, I love this.
We used to get ready together
all the time. Remember? At, um
When we roomed the one and only
time we roomed together at Pan Ams?
Aly used to be so messy.
I roomed with her one time at Pac Rim.
- Never again.
- We never roomed together ever again.
We actually did get We were like
Well, we, like, bicker like sisters,
but we love each other,
but we shouldn't room together.
[Aly] I first met Simone when I started
to come back to training camp in 2014.
- Floor was my best event.
- [cheering]
[commentator] That is
a performance to beat.
[Aly] I had come back,
trying to make the 2016 Olympic team.
- Did you just see how quickly I just
- [Simone] Yeah, I did!
[laughter]
I realized quickly
that she was just so good.
I was like, "Ooh, this may be
a challenge for me on floor."
See? Messy.
Clean.
- Yeah, that's exactly it.
- [both laugh]
[Simone] I feel like we were very close
from the very beginning.
First, she was my idol. I literally have,
like, autographs from her,
seeing her at, like,
classics and championships in 2012.
[Aly] I gravitated towards her
because I was a little bit more anxious,
and I wanted to do,
like, everything perfectly right,
and Simone has this fun balance to her
where she can be focused
when she needs to be,
but then she can just turn it off
and be goofy and silly.
[Aly] Wait, can I just try this?
Should I let you do it?
- Yeah. [laughs]
- [Aly] Okay, let's do this.
- Damn, girl. Your lips are dry.
- [both laugh]
Hold on.
- Dude, I'm no professional. Oh.
- [Aly laughs]
I think I fucked this up.
- Hold on. Let me fix it.
- [laughs]
- Okay.
- [Simone giggles]
Having Aly there
at my first Olympics in Rio
She was team captain.
She showed me the ropes
and kinda taught me everything,
so that was like
She was kind of like my rock.
[cheering]
[Simone] That's even hard to describe,
what the first Olympics felt like.
The nerves were there,
but I had never been more prepared
in my entire life.
[announcer] Gymnasts,
your three-minute warm-up begins now.
[Aly] I remember before we walked out
to compete, we were looking at each other.
I was like, "Are you okay?"
She was like, "Nope. Are you okay?"
"Nope. I feel like I'm gonna throw up,"
and she's like, "I do too."
[Simone] We did deep breaths together.
We held each other's hands.
We're like, "We got this. Let's go."
[cheering and applause]
[announcer] On vault is Simone Biles.
First score.
[cheering]
[commentator] And this is why
Simone Biles is what she is.
[Simone] We could've done those routines
with our eyes closed, backwards.
There was nothing to stop that team.
Absolutely nothing could stand in our way.
[commentator] This is
nonstop beautiful choreography
displayed at
the highest performance level.
Judges, put your pencils down,
because that right there,
that is
an Olympic-gold-medal-winning moment.
[cheering]
[Aly] That was just a special moment
because all the hard work,
everything had kinda fallen into place.
[commentator] Yeah, they're gonna be
gymnastics royalty after this.
Having that high and then winning,
it almost didn't feel real.
[all] We are the final five!
[Simone] You see your idols,
and you're like,
"I wonder how that would feel
if I made history,"
and I'm making history now,
and I don't even know what to feel!
[commentator] Four gold medals
and a bronze,
which is a crazy thing.
[Simone] I came out of 2016
with five medals.
I don't think I've ever been so excited
in my entire life.
[commentator 2]
She's the new queen of gymnastics.
[commentator 3] This has been
her destiny all along.
[Simone] Rio was the highlight of my life,
and at the end of the trip,
I said, "Oh, shit."
"I just achieved my greatest feat at 19."
"What the heck am I supposed to do
with the rest of my life?"
So that's when I got home.
I didn't really know what depression was.
But I knew
I just, like, needed to get rest.
But even whenever I was resting,
I wasn't resting.
I stopped doing a lot of things
that I was passionate about.
Everybody told me I just won the Olympics.
How could I be sad?
I couldn't really pull all of my emotions
and everything
that I was going through together.
And then all that stuff
started coming out.
Shocking allegations tonight
against the former head physician
of the US Women's Olympic Gymnastics Team,
accused of sexually assaulting
young girls in his care
over a period of 19 years.
[reporter] More than 265 victims
have come forward since the scandal broke.
In the very beginning,
when everything came out,
I felt like I was so naive
all of those years,
thinking it's normal.
[woman] Who was the doctor
that USAG sent to keep us healthy?
The doctor that was our abuser.
[man] They thought
it was medical treatment.
You have to understand,
they were 13, 14, 15 at the time.
[woman 2 sniffles] We were just kids.
[Simone] Nobody ever told us
what, like, sexual abuse was.
And once I realized it wasn't my fault,
it was the culture of gymnastics
and the people that covered it up.
[reporter] Olympic stars say
Nassar abused them at the Texas Ranch
owned by Béla and Mártha Károlyi.
If over these many years
just one adult listened
and had the courage and character to act,
this tragedy could've been avoided.
[woman 3] USA Gymnastics
was fostering a culture
that put money and medals first.
[reporter 2] This is probably
the darkest stain
in US Olympic history.
[Simone] I remember, like, driving
on the highway over here on 99,
and I just remember breaking down
and calling my mom.
She told me to pull over
'cause I was crying so hard.
[Nellie] She was just hysterical.
She didn't say anything. She just cried,
and we just cried together
because I knew what it was
that she wanted to talk about.
She didn't have to say anything.
[reporter 3] The former Olympic doctor
was sentenced
to 40 to 175 years in prison.
When everything came out,
that's all you can think about
because it's like walking around with
"survivor" or something on your forehead.
I don't think people realize
that, like, explaining that story
and being, like, a survivor
and an advocate for that,
it's so mentally exhausting.
And they couldn't do one damn job.
You had one job. You literally
had one job, and you couldn't protect us.
[Onnie] Everyone sort of embodies
and experiences trauma in different ways,
but it stays with us.
So think about Simone's life
with something that she carries,
that all of those girls carry.
[Aly] It's hard to step back into the gym
after all we've been through,
but it's even harder
to do it under the pressure that she has.
I know that she's expected to win,
like, all the gold medals,
and I and I really hope that she does,
but I just hope that no matter what,
she can just look back and be proud
that, like, even the fact she's trying
to come back is really amazing.
I truly do believe
that we've put in the work,
and I've kind of freed myself
from a lot of that big stuff
that I didn't get to tackle before.
I've talked to my therapist multiple times
about if I were having trouble
at any of the meets,
ways to stay calm
through visualizations, like,
"What's one thing
that makes you not stressed out?"
And for me, it's like
I feel the most serene at the beach.
Visualize yourself that.
Take some deep breaths.
Or, "What makes you feel powerful?"
And I'm like, "Okay, the color red."
So then I would be like,
"Okay, that's my power,"
so I feel that whenever I'm out there
competing and stuff like that.
So and then I feel
like that really, really helps.
[Laurent] Come on! Come on!
All right, breathe.
Breathe.
Long here. Long! Up!
Same thing. Very long there too.
Very long. Long!
Come on, Simone. Swing!
Yes. Good job.
[Cécile] We are about two months away
from the Olympic team being named.
And now we're a couple weeks
from US Classic,
and once it's US Classic,
it not gonna stop.
So, US Classic,
it's usually your first big meet back
to try the new routines, new combo,
get some feedback from the judges,
and kind of get out there
without too much pressure.
[Laurent] Yeah, that was good.
[Cécile] After that, at Championships,
the big goal is to get your spot
on the national team so you can be picked
for the US Olympic Team trials.
So June 30th, this is when
the US Olympic Team will be announced,
and so, as of now, we don't
the team is qualified, the country,
but there's no athletes
personally qualified yet, until that day.
[Simone] So many people think
I'm automatically on the Olympic team,
but every year, I still have to try out.
[Cécile] Watch your feet.
It's a little sharper than this.
If you want, you just go
and then go like that, instead of this.
[Laurent] The next month or two,
it's back on the trail of reps and routine
to really get
mentally and physically ready
for what's gonna happen
from April all the way to August.
Stop here.
[Cécile] Everybody wants to beat Simone.
Lean, and sharp here with your hand.
[Cécile] So it's pushing her
to be even better
on the detail work
or the upgrades that she can do.
In the floor routine,
the only "upgrade" for this year
would be
putting the triple-double back in.
A triple-double is three twists,
two flips.
The only reason
why we didn't do it last year
is because I was getting comfortable
with twisting again.
[Cécile] Last year
she was doing those skills,
and you could feel
there was a little apprehension
or it wasn't as quick as it used to be.
[Simone] Now twisting
actually feels back to normal.
[Laurent] Technically, I love it
the way it is now.
We know she has the skills.
It's not a problem of having them or not.
Is it worth it physically
for her and mentally?
[Cécile] Nice. Is it good?
I don't wanna overwhelm her,
so it's gonna be
a matter of communication.
"How do you feel? What do you think?"
"Like, we know you can do all of this,
but what do you want to compete?"
- See my lips?
- [GPS] Merge onto Connecticut
- [Adria] Is that the dye?
- Mm-hmm.
Oh, that's so cute.
Oh my God! Oh my God!
What, you didn't get the package?
No, it still says
"at the sorting facility" here.
[Adria] What the hell?
I put a little turtle in there for you.
Oh.
[Adria] It was so cute!
Well, I'm sure I'll get it.
Jonathan's calling. Hold on.
[Simone] Honestly, these next two,
two and a half months
are probably the most stressful.
- All right. Stay safe.
- [Simone] Yep.
Almost everything we do,
we start second-guessing,
and then it just gets
a little bit crazy and hectic.
[Laurent] This is the first meet
of her Olympic preparation.
I know at home,
it's been very good recently,
so we wanna make sure
whatever she does at home,
she does the same thing in competition.
[Cécile] So make your mark, too,
when you go over there.
[Simone] We have these goals in mind,
and if you potentially make that team,
how big you know it will be
for yourself and for your career
and for the country.
[commentator] The path to Paris
accelerates starting tonight.
You want to make that team and compete,
you've gotta make
an impression starting tonight.
And what a field, including
three Olympic All-Around champions.
Among them, Simone Biles.
[cheering]
[commentator 2] Right now, the goal here
is to build up that skill level,
but you really don't wanna be
at 100% right now
because that's too difficult to maintain
for a couple of months.
They wanna peak at the right time,
which is Olympic trials
and the Olympic Games.
[Simone] Before we started our events,
I was really nervous.
And I always tell the girls, like,
"Nothing changes.
Your gymnastics doesn't change."
"Just the atmosphere and the arena."
[cheering]
[Simone] And so I actually found myself
saying that a lot before we started.
[commentator] First event of the season
for Simone Biles in the lead-up to Paris.
And she will start on balance beam.
[cheering]
[Simone] Once I started doing my routines,
I just kept having to stress to myself,
like, "Nothing changes.
Your gymnastics is the same."
"Your gymnastics is the same."
[commentator 2]
Athletes have a different style.
Simone is really quick twitched.
You see how fast
she gets to that finish position.
Great way for her
to start this competition.
[Laurent] Even though it's a race,
we don't need to be perfect right away.
If you would be open more,
you will stick it.
- You know? The shape.
- [Simone] Yeah.
Without changing the technique.
- Just stay more open, you'll stick it.
- Okay.
There's nothing
that replicates competition.
This is why
it's so important to do the best
and try to hit four for four,
then we'll see what worked,
what didn't work.
[commentator 2] So we're starting
to see the difficulty
across the board for Simone Biles
being added into her routines.
[commentator] Now the Biles II,
the fifth skill named after Simone Biles.
[commentator 2] She just
keeps getting better.
She feels good. She looks good.
The body language is good.
[Laurent] We wanna make sure
everything is really lined up
with what we wanna see
from her at the Games.
[commentator 2] We're in for a treat
because she's doing a triple-double,
and the last time she did it
was at the Olympic Games.
[commentator] She almost has
to walk into the triple-double
so she doesn't go out of bounds.
[chuckles]
[commentator 2] I'm laughing, John,
because who has to try less
for a triple-double? Only Simone Biles.
[Cécile] Today I was really impressed.
She was confident.
No major stress that we could see.
[commentator 2] That's how it's done.
She's a champion for a reason.
[commentator] Fifty-nine point five.
So it is Simone Biles
who wins the All-Around here.
[reporter] Congrats. This is the first
of a few meets in the US this summer.
What are the main takeaways for you?
[Simone] Yes, for me,
I was just happy to be back out there,
get through those nerves again,
feel that adrenaline.
Of course,
there's things to go home and fix,
but I'm not I'm not mad about it.
[Cécile] She has more competition now
and more athletes that wanna beat her,
so she wants to make sure
she'll stay ahead.
But you also have to live in the moment
because it does go really fast,
and once you blink, it's over.
'Cause I feel like everybody's waiting
for somebody to beat me,
but at this point,
my biggest competition is still myself.
[dramatic music playing]