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UGA hires Simone Biles’ personal coach, promotes assistant as women’s gymnastics co-head coaches

By WSBTV.com News Staff

Gymnastics - Artistic - Olympics: Day 11 TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 03: Simone Biles of Team United States poses with the bronze medal alongside coaches Laurent Landi (L) and Cecile Canqueteau-Landi (R) following the Women's Balance Beam Final on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on August 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

By WSBTV.com News Staff

ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia announced its new coaches for the women’s gymnastics team have Olympic experience and are familiar with the program.

Cecile Canqueteau-Landi and Ryan Roberts will work as co-head coaches for the GymDogs. The announcement comes a week after UGA fired alumna and seven-year head coach Courtney Kupets Carter.

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“Cecile and Ryan are two of the most accomplished gymnastics coaches in the sport. The combination of their leadership and experiences will give us one the most dynamic coaching staffs in the country,” UGA Athletic Director Josh Brooks said. “Both coaches have developed and mentored the very best gymnasts in the world, and I know our current and future student-athletes will be excited to learn from two of the best coaches in the country.”

Canqueteau-Landi has trained more than a dozen members of the USA Women’s Gymnastics team, including Olympic and World champion Simone Biles. Canqueteau-Landi and her husband, Laurent, are personal coaches to Biles.

She also competed in Atlanta at the 1996 Olympics for her home country of France.

“Throughout my life, gymnastics has provided me some extraordinary opportunities, from traveling the world and competing for my country at the Olympics to coaching amazing athletes at the highest level,” Canqueteau-Landi said in a statement. “Those experiences have helped me become the coach that I am while putting athlete’s well-being first and helping them reach their full potential. I am thrilled for the opportunity to be the new co-head coach of the GymDogs with Ryan. I am looking forward to work with team in the near future.”

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Roberts isn’t a stranger to the GymDogs program. He served as an assistant coach for the past two seasons at Georgia and also spent four years with the Alabama program.

Throughout his career, Roberts has coached SEC Gymnast of the Year winners and also coached at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy alongside Canqueteau-Landi.

The former assistant said he is grateful for the promotion, university leaders and gymnasts he has coached in Athens.

“We have put our heart and soul into each other the past couple years and are on the cusp of some great things. I have known Cecile for years, and she is the exact person to help propel this team to greatness. She is a phenomenal person and coach. Articulating how phenomenal she is isn’t possible and I am very much looking forward to leading this team with her. I give my word to the team, Cecile, the parents, the commits, and the administration that every decision made will be for the betterment of every student athlete on this team. We will represent the G with pride. Go Dogs!”

The co-head coaches will look to return the GymDogs program to its status as a national championship contender.

Georgia has not won a title since 2009 and did not qualify for NCAA championships this season.

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