World Champions Centre (WCC) is an American artistic gymnastics academy, located in Spring, Texas. It is home to Olympic champion Simone Biles and is owned by her family.[1]
| Full name | World Champions Centre Elite |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | WCC |
| Sport | Artistic gymnastics |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Based in | Spring, Texas |
| Owner | Ron & Nellie Biles |
| Head coach | Laurent Landi Cecile Canqueteau-Landi |
| Manager | Zachary Francis |
| Members | Simone Biles Jordan Chiles Olivia Greaves Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos Zoe Miller Joscelyn Roberson Tiana Sumanasekera |
| Website | worldchampionscentre |
History
editAfter the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Aimee Boorman, the longtime coach of Simone Biles, was looking to leave Bannon's Gymnastix. As a result, Biles' mother, Nellie, who co-owned a chain of fourteen nursing homes around Texas, suggested that the family build a gym.[2] World Champions Centre originally opened in March 2014 in a temporary center before moving in September to a warehouse. It now[when?] features a 29,000-square-foot (2,700 m2) gym floor.[3] The gym opened to the public in May 2016.[4]
Biles International Invitational
editThe inaugural Biles Invitational was held in 2018 at World Champions Centre.[5]
Starting in 2020, the event served as a qualifying meet for the Nastia Liukin Cup.[6]
Notable gymnasts and alumni
edit
Notable World Champions Centre gymnasts include Olympic Champions Simone Biles (2016, 2020, 2024) and Jordan Chiles (2020, 2024), as well as 2024 Olympic alternate Joscelyn Roberson.[7][8] All three are additionally World Champions (Biles 2013–2015, 2018–2019, 2023, Chiles 2022, and Roberson 2023). French Olympian and World bronze medalist Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos began training at WCC in 2022.[9]
Additionally Pan American Games champions Zoe Miller and Tiana Sumanasekera train at WCC.
References
edit- ^ Don, Katherine (2016-08-15). "Where Is Simone Biles' Gym? The Texas Center Was Built By Her Parents". Romper.
- ^ Wiedeman, Reeves (2016-05-23). "A Full Revolution: In the run-up to the Olympics, Simone Biles is transforming gymnastics". The New Yorker.
- ^ Loop, Abigail (2016-05-11). "World Champions Centre". Community Impact Newspaper.
- ^ Wexler, Adam (2016-05-19). "Simone Biles unveils new gymnastics facility". KPRC-TV.
- ^ Aragon, Rose-Ann (2018-02-22). "Simone Biles to hold international invitational at family's World Champions Centre in Spring". KPRC-TV.
- ^ "USA Gymnastics announces invitationals participating in 2020 Nastia Liukin Cup Series". USA Gymnastics. 2019-06-24.
- ^ Peene, Sam (June 30, 2024). "U.S. women's Paris 2024 gymnastics team announced". olympics.com. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
- ^ "'Redemption tour': 4 Tokyo team members are headed to Paris Olympics". NBC News. 2024-07-01. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ^ Bregman, Scott. "Melanie de Jesus dos Santos to train with Simone Biles' coaches Cecile and Laurent Landi". Olympic Channel. International Olympic Committeedate=April 6, 2022.