'Simone vs Herself' highlights the raw, human side of Biles' work ahead of Tokyo Olympics

The Simone Biles most of the world knows is a fearless, gravity-defying phenom who pushes her body and gymnastics to their limits. She’s a leader and advocate who’s captivating and charming on camera, even when she’s not satisfied with a (still probably victorious) performance.

But when documentarian Gotham Chopra asked her what story she wanted to tell, the answer, he said, was simple: An authentic one that reminds people she’s human, despite her apparent super powers.

In Simone vs Herself — a new seven-part docuseries directed by Chopra, who’s done similar projects with athletes like Tom Brady and Steph Curry — viewers get a raw, behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to be the greatest gymnast of all time. Her frustration and struggles, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, are on full display right beside her triumphs.

“She’s in a class by herself,” Chopra told For The Win about Biles, an executive producer for the series. “We see the products, we don’t necessarily see the process. … She’s training seven days a week, twice a day. Sundays are off — she practices once in the morning. And so there’s a lot of frustration. There’s a lot of mistakes. There’s a lot of, ‘Do I really want to do this?’ She’s pretty open about that.”

In interviews for the docuseries, Biles candidly shares her fears and self-doubt about the toll gymnastics is taking on her physically and mentally. At one point in a moment shot in 2020 early in the pandemic, she says: “If they cancel the Olympics, I’m quitting. I can’t do this any longer.”

After the Olympics were postponed to July 2021, she opens up with a vulnerable, seldom-seen side of her, worrying about training so hard for another year. Physically, she says she has no doubt she’ll be prepared with the help of her coaches, Cecile and Laurent Landi.

“Mentally, on the other hand, I was really worried because I’m like getting older, getting tired, it’s getting harder to get up and go to the gym,” Biles says in the docuseries from September.

“I’m walking in like two minutes before practice starts. I’m like, ‘Who am I? This is so unlike me.’ But I seriously just can’t get up anymore. It’s a very different change, but I still go in there and get my work done.”

Obviously, she opted to push forward, believing the payoff in the Tokyo Games will be worth it. The Team USA Olympics trials are set for June 24-27, with Biles pretty much being a lock.

“During that quarantine process, I got to really relish in my emotions for the first time in my life without any outside voices telling me that it was going to be OK or I can do it,” Biles says in the first episode.

“Deciding to still move forward and train for 2021 Olympics was only up to me, no outside voices. That’s what I was fighting for and training for. … Having to come back, you have to bring a whole new level, and then I worry, ‘Am I gonna be just as good?’ That’s my real fear, to see if I can get back to 2019 shape and ability. Can I do it again?”

The answer appears to be yes.

In May, Biles returned to competition for the first time since 2019 and became the first woman to complete the Yurchenko double pike — an intense and dangerous vault. She followed that up earlier this month by winning a record seventh U.S. Championships.

Biles almost always looks calm and collected when she’s competing, but her poised look is far from the full story, Chopra noted. He said he was talking with Biles prior to her doing the Yurchenko double pike at the U.S. Classic, and she candidly explained her mental approach to the challenging vault.

“She was saying every time she’s about to start running down the runway for the vault, she’s afraid,” Chopra said. “I thought it was interesting because mostly when you talk to athletes, there’s a sense of fearlessness. They get in the zone, they talk about being in flow state, and there’s just no emotion. They’re just totally in the moment and focused on the process.

“And Simone and her candor, she’s like, ‘Oh no, I’m terrified. Every single time I do it, I’m envisioning the worst possible outcome up until the point I’m done with it.’ And there’s a level of honesty — I think it has a lot to do with her age also — that is pretty, pretty great.”

THE QUEEN HAS SPOKEN

Simone Biles landed her Yurchenko double pike for the first time in competition.@simonebiles // #USClassic pic.twitter.com/j07ZweBZ8H

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) May 23, 2021

However, Simone vs Herself goes beyond the incredible heights she reaches the competition floor, Chopra said. She’s a regular and vocal critic of USA Gymnastics and said in an interview from April with the TODAY show that part of the reason she returned to gymnastics was to hold the governing body accountable because if she’s there, it can’t ignore her as she pushes for change within the sport.

The docuseries, Chopra said, delves into the Larry Nassar abuse scandal with Biles opening up about how she’s still processing being a survivor. She remains candid because she wants to tell her own backstory about her life and experiences, the director said. And in that, she addresses her mental health and being a survivor and advocate.

“You want to get where they really feel ownership over the stories,” Chopra said.

“She’s a survivor — she talked openly about that. She talked about her mental health and treatment and the good days and the bad days as an advocate,” he added. “Look how she’s continuing to win that battle off the mat, and I think that’s probably the thing that she’s most proud of — that she will continue and probably grow and evolve. And I think that’s the thing that she wants to communicate because that’s what this series is really about.”

Similar to Chopra’s projects with Brady and Curry, Biles’ story and docuseries is incomplete.

Of the seven total series episodes, the first five will be released on Tuesdays leading up to the Summer Olympics. The remaining two will be based on what happens in Tokyo, Chopra said, and Biles could return to the states with five gold medals — which would be a record for an American woman in a single Games.

“She’s a superhero,” Chopra said. “Literally, she flies through the air. She does these things that no other human being on the planet has done in the history of her sport.

“But there’s also … this vulnerability and this humanness inside and underneath, and it’s pretty remarkable.”