Despite Separation, Simone Biles Welcomes Cecile Landi’s Georgia Decision: “Can’t Think of a More Deserving Person”

Simone Biles‘ personal coach, Cecile Landi, has been confirmed to take up the co-head coach’s position with Georgia. That means Cecile Landi will end her relationship with the World Champions Centre, which lasted for 7 years. These years witnessed Simone Biles forming a formidable relationship with the coach that enabled her to overcome difficult situations from time to time. Therefore, she could not have been happier. 

After noticing Cecile Landi’s shifting news, Simone Biles took to IG to post her congratulatory note to the coach. The 7x Olympic medalist touted the former French gymnast as the most deserving person to take up the role. “Can’t think of a more deserving person,” Simone wrote. Alongside, she wished a positive result from the Georgia GymDogs under the tutelage of Cecile in the upcoming NCAA gymnastics seasons. But that also means that Simone Biles will have to change her mentor in the upcoming future, ending a longstanding association.

Before moving to Texas’ World Champions Centre, the former French gymnast tried her coaching hat at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy from 2007 to 2017. After moving to WCC in 2017, Cecile Coupled with her husband Laurent in training Simone Biles. “When we started coaching Simone, I would say that we had a different kind of pressure because everyone was waiting for us, maybe, to mess up. ‘How can you get her better? How can you make her better?’ I don’t know, but she can do more. And she did,” recalled Cecile. Rest is history.

Cecile has also trained names like Joscelyn Roberson and Jordan Chiles alongside Simone Biles. However, Cecile used to nurture a special rapport with Simone. That was visibly seen after Simone Biles departed from the Tokyo Olympics, facing the twisties issue. Cecile Landi played an important role in making things smooth while thoroughly standing beside Simone in the mental health issue.

The bonds Simone Biles and Cecile Landi crafted throughout the years 

The Landi couple landed in the WCC just two years after Nellie Biles restructured the facility for the good. Since her inception in the WCC, Cecile has been known for allowing gymnasts their own space. In the Larry Nassar scandal, she supported Simone Biles and others steadfastly. “Mental health became more and more [important] in the past five years, I would say, with the scandal in USA Gymnastics and all those athletes that were abused, that’s when we saw that it did affect them way more than we ever thought,” was her take on the matter. Interestingly, it has not been a one-way process.

Cecile admitted that Simone’s battle has also made her aware about the shift in the mental health issues in recent times. “I think it’s more on a daily basis, being mindful and careful on the girls’ body language. We see them every day, so we can tell when something is off. It has definitely been a big change, and Simone has opened my eyes on a lot of things,” Cecile had explained on a previous occasion. With Cecile’s steadfast support, Simone came out victorious in her mental health battles. 

After her comeback in 2023 as well, Cecile patted Simone’s back by claiming big in her ability. “She can do everything that she was doing before,” she said at the Core Hydration Classic last year. It seems that with her latest post, Simone Biles returned the favor of support that she has received from Cecile for all these years.