There were times during Simone Biles’ nascent rise to stardom over a decade ago when she would arrive for practice and Aimee Boorman could sense immediately what kind of day it was going to be.
Sometimes Boorman, who began coaching Biles from the time Biles was 7 through the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, would get the world champion. And sometimes Boorman would get a typical teenager who simply was not in the mood.
The key for both of them was realizing which days were which so they could adjust accordingly. Boorman understands their relationship might not have been typical at the time. It hardly mattered. It worked.
“Had it been in another situation with another club, with another coach, she might not have been able to be herself in practice,” Boorman said. “That’s just part of her magic.”
It’s an approach that served Boorman and Biles well during their long partnership, one Boorman details in “The Balance,” an intimate look at both Biles’ evolution from prodigy to icon and Boorman’s idiosyncratic style.
Boorman didn’t set out to become the coach of the gymnast widely regarded as the greatest of all time. She competed while growing up in Chicago but held no dreams of Olympic glory. Then Biles showed up one day at the Houston-area gym where Boorman was coaching in the mid-2000s.
It did not take Boorman long to realize that Biles had a singular talent. The trick for Boorman was trying to figure out a way to nurture Biles’ development without burning her out, an inexact science in an unforgiving sport not exactly known for keeping things loose.
That’s where Boorman’s lack of experience at the elite level might have helped. In many ways, Boorman was learning as Biles was learning. They were on the journey together, and through it all, Boorman made it a point to keep everything in perspective.
Yes, Biles had a massive reservoir of potential. Yet Boorman understood there was danger in making the process of tapping into it seem onerous. So she didn’t. Asked if Biles would have become the most decorated female gymnast of all time if she had wandered into someone else’s gym, Boorman shakes her head.
“I don’t think she would have stayed in gymnastics as long,” she said. “Other coaches would have seen her talent and pushed her too fast, would have taken the fun out of it. She liked doing it because it was fun.”
That doesn’t mean Biles wasn’t interested in putting in the work required to become a champion. She was, but usually on her terms.
At some point early in their journey together, it became obvious that Biles was one of one. Boorman met with Ron and Nellie Biles and made a promise, telling them if she couldn’t stay “ahead” of her daughter, Boorman would help them find a coach who could.
It’s telling of the culture around the upper levels of the sport at the time that Boorman’s self-awareness was met with curious looks in some cases, derision in others. While Boorman poured herself into educating herself as much as possible, she also encouraged Biles to solicit feedback from other coaches.
What some viewed as all but pushing Biles out the door, Boorman viewed as common sense.
“I’ve been shamed for, ‘Did you know she asked so and so for help,’” Boorman said. “I mean, when you go to college, your professors know more than you. That doesn’t mean you can’t one day be a professor, too.”
Their partnership helped Biles win three straight world titles from 2013 to 2015, and Boorman served as the head coach of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team that won nine medals in Rio, including a team gold and individual gold for Biles in the all-around as well as on vault and floor exercise.
Biles took a break after that star-making turn and Boorman moved to a new coaching opportunity in Florida. Biles returned in late 2017 with new coaches and continued to redefine the sport, including capturing a second Olympic all-around title in Paris last summer.
Boorman, meanwhile, has spent the last few years as a fixer of sorts. She worked with the Dutch national team at the 2020 Olympics, has coached at camps in Canada and currently is working with several elite gymnasts in the German national program.
Maybe that doesn’t happen if she didn’t forge such a connection with Biles. It hardly matters. When Boorman sees how the sport is attempting to evolve by giving athletes more say in their training, she understands that she and Biles were simply ahead of the curve.
“You have to keep things in perspective,” she said. “Even when we focus so much energy on something like elite sports, going to the Olympics, whatever it is, we’re all humans first. And you’re only going to bring out the best in us if you allow us to be humans first. … It’s the same for (athletes) and coaches. It’s all about finding that balance between who we are and what we want to do.”
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
Will Graves, The Associated Press
