Who Are Patrick Kiens & Daymon Jones? Simone Biles and Others’ New European Coaches

With gymnastics icons such as Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles associated with them, the World Champions Center is constantly looking to improve every aspect of its facilities. Earlier today, WCC announced massive news aimed at helping their students improve. “We are proud to introduce our new WAG Program Directors, Patrick Kiens and Daymon Jones,” WCC wrote on Instagram.

Hailing from the Netherlands, the two world-class coaches bring years of international coaching experience to the Texas-based club. “With 3 Olympics, 7 World Championships, 12 European Championships, and consulting at FIG for the new COP, they come with a wealth of knowledge and experience,” explained WCC in the caption.

However, calling their resumes impressive would be an understatement. Besides earning the honor of becoming consultants on the FIG’s new Code of Points, they’ve coached several national gymnastics teams. Their most recent Olympic success has come with Romania. Kiens, who was the Romanian national team’s head coach, helped Ana Barbosu earn bronze in Paris.

Before Paris 2024, the duo coached Egypt for Rio 2016 and Austria for Tokyo 2020. Simone Biles’ club hopes the duo will “continue WCC’s tradition of top-tier gymnastics and quality coaching… The future is bright!” they added. Taking a deeper look at their coaching experience, you’d see why the World Championship Center has such high expectations from the duo.

The only difference in their resume is the number of European and World Championships they’ve won so far. The two slides listing their accolades reveal Patrick Kines has earned 7 world and 12 European championship titles as a coach. Meanwhile, Daymon Jones has 5 World and 7 European Championships to his name. Besides taking up duties at WCC, they’re “currently coaching on Germany’s National Team staff.”

The gymnastics club based in Simone Biles’ home state hopes Kines and Jones can bring what they’ve learned during their time with Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria, Romania, and the Netherlands to WCC. And while that clarifies why WCC was excited to have them on board, here’s why the gymnastics school needed new coaches in the first place.

Patrick Kiens and Daymon Jones have big shoes to fill at Simone Biles’ club

WCC’s new Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Program Directors will fill the void left by the iconic Landis. Laurent and Cecile Landi didn’t just personally coach Simone Biles but also helped USA Gymnastics at the Olympics. The Landis helped the seven-time Olympic gold medalist through her lowest phase during Tokyo 2020 and guided her to redemption in Paris.

However, shortly after the Olympics, the Landis parted ways with WCC and Biles. The 30-time World Championship medalist supported Cecile Landi’s dream of coaching the college gymnastics team. “It’s not a goodbye, it’s a see you later,” the gold medalist wrote on social media when Cecile Landi left to become the Georgia Bulldogs’ head coach. Then came her husband’s turn.

Laurent Landi left WCC just days ago. “Farewell to Coach Laurent! You will be greatly missed at WCC. Lots of laughs and tears were shed as WCC is so grateful for the dedication the Landi’s have bestowed upon generations of WCC gymnasts, coaches, and colleagues. We wish the Landis the very best!” WCC posted on December 11.

And while Landis and Simone Biles still maintain a strong bond, their positions had to be filled. So the WCC has hired a similarly experienced duo to pick up where the Landis left off. Will WCC reach similar heights under the new duo? We’ll have to wait at least a few years to find that out.