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I think she needed to come back for herself,” said Walsh, who is directing the project, “to really just prove to herself that she can do it under those circumstances.”

Walsh said she benefited from having a prior relationship with Biles, who will be heavily favored to win multiple gold medals in Paris. Before “Rising,” Walsh served as the supervising producer on another docuseries about Biles called “Simone vs.

Herself,” which covered some of the same ground − including Biles’ performance in Tokyo. Both of the series were produced by Religion of Sports.

Walsh said her goal with “Rising” wasn’t to do anything different than her past Biles’ docuseries, but rather double-down on the filming and interviewing approaches that had worked during the COVID-19 pandemic − and give Biles the space and freedom to continue telling her story.

My whole approach with this film was that there’s this idea of the way the outside world looks in at her, and then there’s the way that she’s experiencing the world that’s around her,” Walsh said.

“Sometimes those things align. Sometimes she is the GOAT, and we see the GOAT. And sometimes we see the GOAT, and she feels insecure.
And sometimes you see just this one side of her, and we get to see these other sides of her.”

Walsh said the decision to pursue the project “came down to the last minute” as Biles weighed whether she was ready to share more of her story from Tokyo and the 732-day layoff that followed.

Filming didn’t begin until late September, just before the 2023 world championships where Biles won four golds, including in the all-around and team competitions.

The 27-year-old sat for two lengthy interviews over the winter, Walsh said, “plus lots of little ones” − including an hour-long session during the week of the U.S. Olympic trials.

The director praised Biles for her candor and said they worked together to address particularly challenging subjects − such as Biles being a survivor of sexual abuse and some of her trauma from Tokyo − on Biles’ timeline and at her discretion.
“It takes a lot. It’s emotionally taxing to go back to all these things,” Walsh said.

“If somebody were constantly bringing up these traumatic experiences in your life and asking you about them, it just emotionally takes a lot. So I’m aware of that.”