Thankful to Simone Biles’ Parents, Gymnast’s Ex-Coach Reveals How She Saved Her From Extensive Training Methods

Imagine being under someone’s mentorship since you were 7. And that goes on for over a decade. Well, that’s Simone Biles and Aimee Boorman for you. Biles was just a promising elementary school athlete when Boorman first saw her walk into a Houston gym. And today, she’s an 11-time Olympic medalist who goes by the moniker of the G.O.A.T. But had it not been for Boorman’s strong-headed approach regarding Biles’ training methods, we kid you not, today the story could have been entirely different…

Aimee Boorman has seen a lot of Simone Biles’ success up close. After all, she shaped her from a toddler into a gymnast who topped podiums like it was a cakewalk for her. 14 medals at the three world championships between 2013 and 2015. And let’s not forget Biles’ Rio Olympic triumph in 2016. All of this came under Boorman’s training. But had it not been for her stern decisions regarding how to train Biles, this would have looked difficult. Boorman’s biggest decision, perhaps?

Doing away with the potentially damaging methods implied by one of Simone’s other coaches. Yes, Aimee Boorman was very cautious and sensitive about how she trained Simone Biles. In the wake of her recently published memoir, “The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles,” she appeared on the GymCastic podcast aired on YouTube on April 24. And that’s when she voiced a startling confession: “I didn’t realize how often I stood up to her (that coach) until I read the book, because it was just a part of my life. It was a part of my everyday of what I was going to accept from her and what I was not going to accept, and what I would, um, communicate to Simone and what I would not communicate.”

Yes, Boorman had her own way of filtering what advice and tips reached Simone Biles and what needed to be cut out. That’s because “there were things that she (that coach) would say to me that I would not communicate to Simone. Where other coaches might have gone in and said, “Well, she (that coach) thinks that you’ve put on weight, so you’re going to have to go on a diet.” You know, like, I would never say that to Simone because I would just tell her (that coach) that was okay. I would just nod and say, “Okay.”” Well, that’s Boorman for you. She would not stand up and confront that coach directly, but she did have her own way of segregating the talk and ensuring only the best bits reached Simone Biles.

Because things that weren’t going to help Simone in her gymnastics, why bother her mind space with them? Even Simone Biles had previously said that at the monthly camps under the other coach, no one would even talk or laugh, which was not how Simone wanted to do gymnastics. “They used to try to put us in a box, and they were like, ‘If you weren’t like this, you’re not going to be successful,’” Biles said.

And not many know, but here’s an interesting fact: Boorman’s style has always been different than that of other coaches. She wanted Simone Biles and all her gymnasts to be happy above everything else. A huge reason behind this was that, back in her childhood, Boorman had a coach who ignored her and made her feel awful, which diminished her love of gymnastics for a while. So when she started coaching, she pledged never to make anyone feel the same. Boorman’s ideology comes across best through this line she once said: “If I’m proud of myself for anything, it’s staying true to that ideal of making sure that sports are healthy and athletes are happy before anything.”

No wonder Simone Biles’ parents trusted Boorman to be her mentor for such a long time. They were together longer than most coach-athlete duos survive. Knowing this also makes Boorman grateful for that opportunity and for those memories!

Aimee Boorman cannot thank Simone Biles’ parents enough

In that very podcast, Boorman also said something incredibly sweet to Simone Biles’ parents, Ron and Nellie Biles. She said, “Yeah, first off, I mean I will forever be grateful to Ron and Nelly Biles for trusting me.” She had been clear with them since day 1, saying, “Let me see how far I can take her, and I will let you know if I cannot take her any further.” And they did trust her!

Another factor why Simone Biles’ parents really counted on Aimee Boorman was because, whenever the two had to part, Boorman would help them find the right coach for Biles because she knew her too well. She even knew what made her stay and show her skills in the gym. “And it was also very clear that I would help them find the right coach... I knew what made her tick in the gym. And so would it have been hard for me to send her off…of course, I’d put a lot of time and effort into coaching her. But the fact of the matter is, it’s what would’ve been best for her if I couldn’t keep up with her.”

The two did split up when Boorman accepted a job at Evo Athletics in Florida, and Biles wasn’t really sure of her gymnastics future because back then, the prevailing culture was that athletes retired after the Olympics. But the record books are testament to the fact that this duo was a hit on the mats. What do you think of Boorman’s coaching?