Simone Biles’ success on the gymnastics platform wasn’t always a straight-up journey. With twists and turns aplenty, she overcame some of her toughest challenges with the support of her friends, family, and coach, Cecile Landi. Their relationship has been one for the books, and with some recent milestones, they’ve grown closer.
A few months ago, Landi announced that she was parting ways with Biles’ gym and her role as the GOAT’s coach. This was because she landed a new role at the University of Georgia as the co-head of their gymnastics team.
The decision was bittersweet, and Biles couldn’t be happier with her coach’s ability to progress. Their constant support recently came under the spotlight again when Landi received the prestigious title of ‘Women’s Artistic Coach of the Year’ by the USA Gymnastics.
Sharing the news on her Instagram stories, Biles couldn’t be more proud of how things turned out for the coach. Their relationship has resulted in some good memories, and the gymnast has been grateful.
“no one deserves this more…truly lucky to have been coached by her!!!”
Landi is remarkable for her ability to train gymnasts for the Olympics, turning them into strong contenders, and for her unwavering support. The Paris Olympics was full of ups and downs for Biles and her team, and while they did win a bunch of gold medals, an incident threatened to sour their experience.
Landi’s advocacy for Biles’ team during the Olympics
The Women’s Artistic Gymnastics witnessed a discrepancy in judgment with regard to the individual floor routine category. Jordan Chiles, who represented Team USA, received scores lower than the difficulty of her routine, and Landi made sure to report the difference immediately.
What followed was a month-long saga of robbed medals, mistaken decisions, soured experiences for gymnasts, and constant back and forth of evidence. The debate about whether the American coach submitted the appeal within the time limit had the entire nation in a clutch.
Ultimately, after authorities robbed Chiles of her bronze and Team USA submitted multiple videos as evidence—including those from Netflix as part of Biles’ documentary—the Court of Arbitration for Sports ruled in USA Gymnastics’ favor. Fans hailed Landi as the best coach back then, and now she gets to bask in the glory.
