Simone Biles’ coaches are longtime Dallasites, ‘the dopest people’ and hope for gymnastics’ future

Simone Biles’ return to the Olympics promises more of this.

Five years after winning five medals at the 2016 Games, the resident of jumping is the favorite for five gold medals in Tokyo thanks to her phenomenal, groundbreaking dominance.

But her preparation out of the spotlight was different – and included two people honing their coaching careers in the Dallas area.

In 2017 Laurent and Cecile Landi – longtime coaches at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Plano – moved from Dallas to Houston to coach Biles.

In their years together, 24-year-old Biles has achieved an unprecedented level of ingenuity and success in sports. The Landis positioned two of the four gymnasts on the U.S. women’s team – Biles and Jordan Chiles – to form the most selective Olympic squad of all time.

Current and past gymnasts and parents who have worked with the Landis say this is no coincidence.

In the first Olympics since scandals of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse hit the sport, many hope that the Dallas Landis coaching techniques and example on Olympic soil will signal a change in gymnastics culture.

“I wish there were more Laurent and Ceciles in the gymnastics community,” said Madison Kocian, 2016 Olympic champion, who trained with the Landis at WOGA. “I have the feeling that they supported and loved me and allowed me to realize my dreams, that is what is special.

“I hope more coaches can watch them and see what they do and change their perspective a little to better suit them.”

Caring approach

Jordan Chiles, center, and Simone Biles, right, of the United States respond to a photo with Cecile Canqueteau-Landi, left, after exercising on the balance beam for artistic gymnastics at the Ariake Gymnastics Center ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday July 22nd, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo / Ashley Landis)(Ashley Landis)

Laurent, 43, and Cecile, 41, grew up gymnasts in France – Cecile, a member of the 1996 Olympic team – and moved to the US 17 years ago to begin their coaching careers in earnest.

They arrived at WOGA just before Nastia Liukin won the 2008 Olympic all-around final, followed by Carly Patterson as the second consecutive champion, and they soon inherited two promising young gymnasts.

With 9-year-old Kocian and Alyssa Baumann two Olympic cycles removed from eligibility, the Landis sometimes had to be strict.

For example, if the girls’ legs were too tired to continue practicing, they had to push them. They needed explicit directions for learning skills and creating routines.

However, Kocian and Baumann said the Landis approach never reflected the dictatorial style that Olympic coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi made famous in America and later infamous at their national team training center and ranch in Huntsville.

And that’s not what Kocian and Baumann remember most.

When Laurent Baumann was driving to a training camp for the national team, he pulled his car by just outside the ranch. He knew she had just recovered from an injury, mononucleosis, and two seizures of bronchitis.

“Are you sure you can do this?” he asked. “Or do I have to go back immediately?”

“That was just very reassuring because he didn’t want me to do something that I actually didn’t want to do,” said Baumann, who won gold with the USA at the 2014 World Cup. “At many national team camps, coaches pushed gymnasts beyond their apparent limits and it seemed like the gymnast didn’t want to be there.

“I was just glad I never was.”

Days after Kocian broke her shin in March 2016, less than five months before the Olympics, she returned to WOGA and found that Laurent had designed a calendar to expedite her recovery and Olympic prep.

Based on her previous rehabilitation schedules, they set target dates for resuming her individual skills and routines when she received medical clearance.

But he and Cecile never put pressure on them.

Instead, they often stopped Kocian from overdoing upper body and one leg conditioning so that she would not suffer other overuse injuries.

After Liukin returned to training before the 2012 Olympics, her father and trainer Valeri would sometimes travel for weeks with his other gymnasts. Laurent and Cecile, she recalled, would “always step in” to oversee their practices as well.

“The support they always had for their athletes and the people around them,” said Liukin, “has always been special to me.”

Daring moves

Simone Biles from the USA speaks with her trainer Laurent Landi on the uneven bars during the women’s all-around final at the Gymnastics World Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, Thursday, 10.10.2019.(Matthias Schrader)

The personal responsibility of their gymnasts for their training represents a stark contrast to the history of the sport with abusive leadership and subjective decisions.

Weeks after the 2016 Games, an Indianapolis Star investigation revealed the crimes of former national team doctor Larry Nassar, who for decades sexually abused hundreds of gymnasts under the guise of medical treatment.

Nine out of ten gymnasts from the 2012 and 2016 Olympic teams volunteered to be survivors. The other, Laurie Hernandez, spoke about emotional abuse she suffered from her former trainer Maggie Haney, who has since been suspended from USA Gymnastics.

Biles is the only known survivor of Nassar’s abuse who is still competing at the elite level.

She said she followed the Tokyo Olympics in part to hold USA Gymnastics accountable for organizational and cultural transparency and to use their platform to create change.

For example, three days after Biles said she was heartbroken in January 2018 about continuing to exercise at the ranch where she was mistreated, USA Gymnastics ended its long-term lease at the remote barebones facility.

Aimee Boorman had coached Biles with a flexible, personal anti-Karolyi approach since she started gymnastics, but Boorman moved to Florida after the last Olympics. The Landis’ qualifications and background intrigued Biles as she went looking for a replacement.

They came up with a plan for how they would help Biles increase difficulty and consistency on the uneven bars – her weakest event and Laurent’s specialty – and how they could reconstruct their routines to boost their confidence, especially on the bar with Cecile.

In return, Biles gained the freedom to practice daring moves that she had previously tried just for fun.

Biles has debuted four new skills in her career, including three with the Landis, one in every event other than Bars.

If she tries to do the Yurchenko double pike jump to her fifth trick of the same name in Tokyo next week (it would be renamed Biles II if it landed) – likely during the all-around final because she’ll get more warm-up time – the Landis will be with her there .

Together.

The Olympic gymnastics rules allow athletes to bring only one trainer to the games. Laurent traveled to Rio with Kocian. Cecile watched from the stands with Kocian’s parents.

Since Biles and Chiles now make up half of the US team, Cecile also received an official coaching qualification in Tokyo.

An American Olympic gymnastics team has not accepted two gymnasts from the same club program since 2004.

Those close to the Landis aren’t surprised by the rare milestone.

“I’ve had the worst lack of confidence in my career,” Chiles said last month of her decision in 2019 to move from Washington to Spring to train with Biles and the Landis. “Having the right coaching and the right teammates to support you really helps with your gymnastics and your life in general.

“Cecile and Laurent are the stupidest people I have ever met in my life.”

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