In Simone Biles Rising, Biles Says She Could “Feel” Olympic Withdrawal Coming

The world was shocked when gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from numerous events during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics — especially considering the fact that she was the clear front-runner for multiple gold medals. However, in Simone Biles Rising, a new doc series directed by Katie Walsh, Biles reveals that she knew what was coming before anyone else did. 

“I’ve always had really good intuition about things,” Biles says in Episode 1. “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.”

Simone Biles Rising chronicles Biles’ preparations to resume her position at the top following her near-total withdrawal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At the time, she was struggling with her mental health, and suffering from a phenomenon known as “the twisties,” which can happen when gymnasts lose their sense of where they physically are in the air and how they’ll land. Rather than push herself to the brink, she made the difficult decision to withdraw from the bulk of the competition. Four years later, Biles has unfinished business, and ahead of her return to the Olympics in Paris 2024, the new doc series Simone Biles Rising offers an intimate look at the story behind it all. 

“I never thought I was going to be competing again after Tokyo,” Biles says in the series. “I had to fight demons, day in and day out in training. I really have to prove to myself that I can do this. I get to write my own ending.”

Watch Simone Biles Rising on Netflix now. The Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games start July 26. Find out more information about when Biles will be competing, and how to watch her on Olympics.com.