Simone Biles' former coach Cecile Landi reflects on senior Anaya Smith's impact as Georgia Gymdogs close out regular season

The former coach of Simone Biles, Cecile Landi, recently shared her thoughts on the positive impact of collegiate artistic gymnast Anaya Smith. She decided to join the Georgia GymDogs team after transferring from Arizona State University.

Landi, who is the co-head coach of Georgia GymDogs, expressed her heartfelt thoughts for Smith through an Instagram stories post. She penned her views, which reflected her admiration for Smith as she competed in her final home meet. Landi wrote:

“👩🏿‍🎓 Thank you Anaya for your leadership and commitment to this team! Post-season here we come ❤️🖤”

Screenshot of Simone Biles's former coach Cecile Landi's Instagram story post | Source: IG/cecilelandi

Anaya Smith is a graduate student from Arizona State University and joined the University of Georgia for her fifth year. In 2024, her senior year at Arizona State, she won seven vault titles. She was also the national runner-up, named to the First-Team All American and the All-Pac-12 Vault First Team.

Smith has earned multiple accolades throughout her collegiate career. In her freshman year 2021, she earned the honor of being named to the All-Pac-12 First Team on vault. In their final game of the regular season, the Georgia GymDogs secured a new season high score.

The GymDogs lost the last home meet at Stageman Coliseum to the Oklahoma Sooners with a concluding score of 197.975 - 198.475. The team's regular season record stands at 5-7. The team also clinched a high score of the season on four events. In her final vault at the Coliseum, Smith tied her career-high score with 9.900.

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Simone Biles’ coach Cecile Landi reflected on rising amid challenges

Simone Biles, Cecile Canqueteau-Landi, and Laurent Landi at 2024 Summer Olympics - Day 10 - Source: Getty

Cecile Landi is a former artistic gymnast and was part of the US team's coaching department at the Paris Olympics. From 2007 to 2017, she coached in the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy and then joined the coaching staff at World Champions Centre.

Landi and her husband, Laurent, coached Simone Biles, who has become one of the most decorated artistic gymnasts. She led Biles to six Olympic medals and three world all-around titles. However, she faced issues in the initial stages of coaching. Landi shared her thoughts via the Olympics during an interview in 2023.

“When I left France, they told me I was going to fail. I was not going to make it. I was going to come back crying and asking for my job back. And here I am 18 years later. That was one of the motivations, too. I was like, ‘Oh, no, no, no. I’m going to prove you wrong. I’m going to show you. I’ll do it.’”

Cecile Landi and Laurent Landi have coached multiple elite artistic gymnasts and were inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2023.