Simone Biles & Her Coach Are Parting Ways

Fresh off her big wins at the Rio Olympics and her appearance at the Video Music Awards, Simone Biles and her long-time coach, Aimee Boorman, are parting ways after Boorman announced she is taking an executive position at a world-class gymnastics facility and gym in Florida. Given Biles' amazing accomplishments under Boorman (and the fact that she's been her coach for all of Biles' life), the news of their parting, even for such a positive reason, is totally bittersweet.

Boorman is set to become the new executive director of women's gymnastics at EVO Athletics, a gym and athletic training facility in Sarasota, Florida, that specializes in gymnastics, cheerleading, tumbling, and uber-popular Ninja Warrior training. This is, of course, a major move for Boorman, and one she's clearly excited for, but it also means she'll no longer live in Houston, where Biles lives, and will no longer coach Biles at her parents' World Champions Centre.

As of publishing date, Biles hasn't yet released a statement about the bittersweet split (and given that she's only 19, it's kind of absurd to expect her to), but Boorman told People that she wants to remain in Biles' life:

We were both sad, but [Simone] understands that life moves on and she knows that if she plans to continue in gymnastics... I will always be willing to coach her. I will be there as a mentor.

Boorman's coaching technique was somewhat unorthodox in that she allowed (and even encouraged) Biles to have a social life outside of her sport. That coaching style seems to have led to Biles making the surprisingly mature decision to wait to decide whether or not she wants to continue with gymnastics. Biles said she plans on spending time relaxing and enjoying the fruits of her labor with her friends, and it seems to me that her unique and supportive relationship with Boorman helped lead the young world-class gymnast to be so well-adjusted and, well, normal.

With so many articles about Boorman and Biles' personal and professional relationship added to the ways they've both advanced their careers during and after the Rio Olympics, this news, while certainly worthy of congratulations, is also kind of sad. Biles once said Boorman was like her "second mom," and I'm totally not crying thinking about how sad it is that the dream team we all fell in love with in Rio will probably never work together again in that capacity.