Olympic champion’s ‘genuinely inspiring’ Netflix documentary watched 8,200,000 times-Ellie Hutchings-Entertainment – Metro

Simone Biles will come away from the Paris Olympics with three gold medalsand one silver (Picture: Netflix)

Team USA gymnast Simone Biles has dominated at the Paris 2024 Olympics, so it’s no surprise that Netflix subscribers have flocked to watch a documentary about her.

After suffering with a case of ‘the twisties’ at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, fans of the gymnast were eagerly awaiting her return to the international stage.

And Simone Biles did not disappoint. After winning gold in the team event, she became the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history, going on to win gold in the individual all-round competition and in the vault competition too, and picking up a silver medal in the floor competition.

But Biles’ journey hasn’t been easy. She made the difficult decision to pull out of the Tokyo Games in 2020, in order to prioritise her mental health.

The new Netflix documentary, Simone Biles Rising, charts her mental health journey as she balances her personal life with a return to training ahead of Paris 2024.

It’s tugged on viewers’ heartstrings, with Livie sharing on X: ‘Four minutes into Simone Biles’ Netflix series and I’m already so emotional.’

Simone Biles pulled out of the Tokyo Games to focus on her mental health (Picture: Netflix)

Another shared: ‘I’m not even halfway thru episode 1 of Simone Biles: Rising documentary on Netflix, and I’m in tears’.

The critics were impressed by the documentary too, rating it a perfect 100% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

Anmar Kalia, writing for the Observer, said: ‘Packed as it is with jaw-dropping slow-motion footage of Biles’s vaults and leaps, it’s impossible to come away from Rising without rooting for this astounding woman, who has dominated her sport for a decade.’

Meanwhile, Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times calls it ‘A genuinely inspiring two-part documentary.’

It’s no surprise, then, that Simone Biles Rising has been watched a whopping 8.2 million times since it was released.

Simone Biles has won four Olympic meals at the Paris Games (Picture: Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages)

First landing on Netflix on July 17, the two episodes picked up 4.7 million views in just four days, debuting at number three on the streamer’s most-watched chart.

The following week, the documentary was watched 3.5 million times, dropping down to number four on the list.

But with two more episodes expected to air in the autumn – which will presumably focus on Biles’ experience at the Paris Olympics – it’s unlikely that this is the last we’ve seen of Simone Biles Rising in the Netflix chart.

Elsewhere on the list, Cobra Kai: Season 6 has topped the chart for the second week in a row, with an enormous 9.5 million views.

The Karate Kid spin-off is set 34 years after the 1984 film and looks at the events from the perspective of Johnny Lawrence, as well as following his decision to reopen the titular karate dojo.

Cobra Kai: Season six has spent the past two weeks at the top of Netflix’s most-watched list (Picture: Netflix)

A new entry comes in second place this week: Dirty Pop received 5.6 million views after first landing on Netflix on July 24.

The documentary looks back at how Lou Pearlman went from managing the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC to ending up behind bars for fraud.

Entertainment – MetroRead More