The name Simone Biles and awards go side by side, as the gymnast has been able to accumulate a lot of them in her stellar career. Even though the 2024 season has come to an end after she participated in the Gold Over America Tour, the Olympian has achieved a distinct title outside of the sport.
The gymnast’s Netflix documentary, Simone Biles Rising, recently became the winner of the Critics Choice Documentary Award for the Best Limited Documentary Series. In 2020, Michael Jordan’s The Last Chance received a nomination but failed to win the award, making Simone Biles Rising the first sports documentary to achieve this rare feat.
The popular show has lived up to its hype, and now, after gaining all the popularity, it is making headlines in the documentary industry out there. However, grabbing the award was no straightforward task, as it competed against other nominees, including America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Black Twitter: A People’s History, Mr. McMahon, Ren Faire, and Secrets of the Octopus.
Simone Biles Rising generated a lot of anticipation in the fans of the gymnast, as it was set to release prior to the months leading up to the Paris Olympics. It had the job of portraying the stuff going on behind the scenes for Biles during one of the most disastrous moments in her career, which was in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
The first two episodes were released before the Olympic Games, and it showed how, because of twisties, the gymnast faced one of the most challenging moments in her life. This documentary also helped the fans to get a clear view of how Biles was going through a cluster of mental challenges that also became the reason for her to take a break from the sport she loved.
Eventually, the 27-year-old made a return in the 2023 US Classic and surprised everyone by winning three golds and a silver medal at the Paris Olympics later on. Her comeback story was also included in the documentary’s final two episodes, which were released after the Games. Due to all of these intriguing aspects, the Netflix show caught the attention of a large audience and now also gained this amazing award as featured on the Critics Choice Award’s official X page.
The success of the documentary was imminent as it covered the G.O.A.T. of gymnastics, who has done a lot for the sport she adores. This has also opened up many opportunities for other gymnasts as they tend to carve their path of success like Biles did, and she eventually got to share her story through an epic show, that too during the Olympic campaign.
It was a successful season for the American gymnast, and despite all the doubts that the critics imposed on her, she defied them all and proved that she was still at the top of the sport. Even after she grabbed her gold medals back in Paris, she didn’t just end her season there.
A season to remember for Simone Biles
Many expected the hype around gymnastics to die down after the Paris Olympics. However, things took a U-turn regarding the anticipation of fans after the Gold Over America Tour was set to be hosted for more than a month, venturing various major cities of the United States. The event featured more than gymnastics as it adopted a ‘pop concert style’ that gave the fans a whole new perspective towards the sport.
It also featured many popular names like Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, and other gymnasts who were ready to give more action to their fans after the Paris Olympics. However, when the tour finally came to an end on November 3 in Detroit, a few days later Biles wrote an emotional statement on her Instagram story, saying, “My heart has never been fuller.”
She further expressed her emotions by sharing multiple pictures that she clicked with her teammates Jordan Chiles and Joscelyn Roberson. The 2024 season came to a positive end for the 27-year-old, but there are a lot of challenges that await her in the future.
