"Don’t let her win too fast" - When Simone Biles opened up on coaches' concern of her advancing too quickly leading to possible burn out

By Janhavi Shinde

Modified Jan 31, 2025 11:54 GMT

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Simone Biles once reflected on how her coaches were concerned about her quick progress which they believed would have led to possible burn out. Biles commenced her gymnastics training under Aimee Boorman as an eight-year-old before getting invited by Martha Karolyi to Karolyi Ranch when she was 13.

Boorman laid the groundwork for Biles' gymnastics legacy by training her from 2005 to 2016, when the legendary gymnast made her first Olympic appearance in Rio. The gymnast-coach duo took different directions when Boorman joined Evo Athletics in Sarasota as the executive director.

In her autobiography Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance, published in 2016, Biles reflected on the time when some coaches were worried about her swift progress leading to the possibility of burn out. Boorman was supportive of her competing as much as the gymnast wanted.

"My hard work in the gym was starting to pay off," Biles wrote. "Even though I was now competing in local and state meets against gymnasts who were much older and taller than me, I was starting to win medals regularly."

"Some of the other coaches worried that I was moving too quickly and would get burned out. 'Don’t let her win too fast,' they’d say, but Aimee didn’t see any reason to hold me back. As long as I was having fun out there and not getting too stressed, she was happy to let me compete as much as I wanted."

"Took her less time than the average person" - When Simone Biles' first coach Aimee Boorman reflected on how the gymnast approached training as a young prodigy

Simone Biles and her coach Aimee Boorman during the Rio Olympics in Brazil. (Photo via Getty Images)

Simone Biles' first coach Aimee Boorman once reflected on how the gymnast trained in her early years, highlighting she used visual learning. As Biles started mastering difficult skills, Boorman and her team broke them down into drills, which she was naturally able to grasp quickly.

“In those early years,” continued Boorman, “she would just watch people do skills and go and try them."

“In the early years, it was definitely just more of a visual thing for her. When she started learning the really difficult skills, we broke them down just like would for any athlete. So, she had the drills in there, it just took her less time than the average person to put all the pieces together." (via Olympics.com in August 2024)

Before Boorman and Simone Biles parted ways, the gymnast competed in the Rio Games and bagged five medals.