Simone Biles talks mental health journey in Netflix Doc

Simone Biles' Netflix documentary Simone Biles Rising: Part 2 follows the Olympian's journey to returning to Paris in 2024 as she overcomes her fears of competing for the first time after dropping out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to prioritize her mental health.

At the premiere of the documentary, the Olympian said The Hollywood journalist how the process of sharing her struggles with balancing her inner well-being and on-screen gymnastics has taught her a lot about herself.

“I was a lot more stubborn than I thought,” Biles said. “And allowing myself to be open and vulnerable taught me courage.”

Courage the star said she would get by turning to her family when she felt stressed or uncomfortable during the Olympics – an experience she didn't have at the Tokyo Olympics, which were held late in 2021, due to COVID-19. 19 in progress. pandemic.

“They know I look at them in the audience just to calm me down, and it's just a stress reliever for me,” she said during the question-and-answer portion of the event. “Having this experience in Paris where I was able to talk to them, go see them… it meant the world to me because, again, these are memories that we will cherish together.”

Biles continued: “It just means everything to me [husband Jonathan Owens] he might show up and support me because he also knows he is my comfort person. I looked at him even after he made one of the serving errors, I just looked at him and he said, 'You're fine, calm down.'”

Documentary director Katie Walsh explained how, after spending five years with the athlete on the project, she has witnessed Biles' growth since the first part of the documentary, released in July.

“She learned so much about herself and how to take care of her mental health and make sure she always put herself first,” Walsh said. “It's a wonderful lesson and a wonderful example for all of us to follow.”

While mental health advocacy has become part of Biles' brand thanks to her openness about her struggles with depression, anxiety, seizures and panic attacks, she admitted she's been open about it in Part 2 it was a challenge.

“[What I talked about in therapy] it was pretty sacred to me because it's my space and what works for me might not work for other people,” she said. “Also, I didn't want to just tell a bunch of things. These are my secrets. And so I think it's It was a little difficult because I didn't want people to think I was really struggling.”

Biles continued, “It was more of a force for me to come in, do my visualizations, just talk [my therapist for] whatever I needed…it wasn't at a point of weakness. It was a strong point.”

However, the gold medalist encouraged fans to seek their own help when facing personal challenges. “You deserve that help,” he said. “The first step is the hardest, but after that I will be with you every step of the way.”

Simone Biles Rising: Part 2 debuts Friday on Netflix.

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