With regards to well-known gymnastics household lineages, having a mom and daughter who each competed within the Olympics as gymnasts is without doubt one of the rarest occasions to happen. Nevertheless, there’s one feat that’s even rarer. That being, an Olympic gymnast giving start to a daughter who went on to turn into an Olympian in a sport aside from gymnastics.
Whereas there are 5 examples of mother-daughter Olympic gymnasts, there is just one instance of a mother-daughter Olympic mixture between an Olympic gymnast and a member of the family competing in any of the opposite Olympic sports activities. That instance occurred when 1936 Olympic gold medalist Anita Barwirth had a daughter by the title of Cristina Hardekopf who returned to the Olympics as a diver for the 1960 Video games.
Effectively, it has occurred once more.
Cecile Landi who competed underneath the title Cecile Canqueteau within the Nineties and took part within the 1996 Olympics has a daughter by the title of Juliette Landi who was simply chosen for the Olympics in ladies’s diving. Maybe it’s irony that one thing that has occurred on solely two events in some other sport occurred with diving on each of these events. Maybe it’s an perception into the robust overlap these two sports activities share. Proving athletes with a gymnastics background can depart the game and go on to turn into nice divers. This famously occurred with Phoebe Mills who gained a medal in gymnastics on the 1988 Olympics and later positioned thirteenth on the 1993 U.S. Diving Nationwide Championships.
Cecile Landi is the uncommon instance of a gymnast who grew to become extra well-known after she stopped competing. She rose to turn into probably the most widely known names amongst gymnastics followers on account of her success as a coach. Cecile was famous for her affiliation with 2016 Olympian Madison Kocian throughout her teaching stint at WOGA. But it surely was when in 2017 that Cecile and her husband Laurent Landi have been personally chosen by Simone Biles to turn into her new coach and head the rising WCC program that her teaching profession reached unprecedented heights.
Often, it’s when a coach efficiently leads a gymnast to an Olympic gold medal for the primary time that she or he has reached the head of success. For Cecile and Laurent, it was when the most important gymnast of the century undergoes a mid-career teaching change and personally chooses you to turn into her new coach. And if that wasn’t sufficient, the mixed energy of Simone, Cecile, and Laurent has shaken up the American membership system.
Regardless of its comparatively new standing, WCC has turn into the highest membership within the American system nearly in a single day underneath the steering of Cecile and Laurent. On the 2024 U.S. Traditional it had extra members within the senior subject than some other membership. However even that wasn’t sufficient, Cecile’s teaching profession would rise as soon as extra. Final month it was introduced that following the Olympics she would pivot to NCAA teaching. Taking on the Georgia program which has gained ten Nationwide Championships in its historical past, has huge assets, and has lengthy been in search of the coach who can lastly rekindle its former glory because the winningest program in NCAA historical past.
Cecile has turn into one thing of a celebrity-like determine amongst the gymnastics fanbase and rising up that mirrored on Juliette Landi. She made the occasional look on the social media channels of each Simone Biles and Nastia Liukin. Juliette was additionally current for lots of the native ceremonial occasions as WOGA and WCC celebrated the gymnasts they despatched to the Olympics. As a gymnast Juliette competed first for WOGA reaching Stage 7 in Creative Gymnastics. She then switched disciplines competing in Trampoline & Tumbling whereas representing WCC. She ultimately left gymnastics fully making the swap to diving.
However when it was observed that Juliette was having success as an elite-level diver, gymnastics social media channels started monitoring her diving profession with the subject producing robust curiosity from the fanbase despite the fact that it was a unique sport. Gymnastics followers have been monitoring her profession milestones for a minimum of the previous two years. All as a result of followers had a lot admiration and respect for the mother and father, they discovered themselves rooting for the daughter as effectively.
Juliette Landi was the feel-good story that was compelling when it first started taking form, after which had probably the most rewarding endings. The 2 years gymnastics followers spent admiring her for branching out into a unique sport and hoping she would discover success, led to Juliette changing into an Olympian. Juliette Landi had so many similarities to the case of Cristina Hardekopf that this developed right into a state of affairs the place Juliette had the chance to duplicate an uncommon gymnastics document linked all the way in which again to the 1936 Olympics, full it underneath similar circumstances, and it’s uncertain the celebs would ever align like this once more.
And Juliette did it. That’s an additional little bit of pleasure on prime of what’s already a rewarding storyline.
Cecile and Juliette Landi share a diving reference to the earlier instance of Anita Barwirth and Cristina Hardekopf in 1936 and 1960. However this ultra-rare prevalence not solely options similarities in the identical Olympic sport, each examples characteristic a household that crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Cecile and Laurent are famed French gymnasts who got here to the USA to teach, within the course of elevating Juliette of their adoptive new nation. Anita Barwirth was a German Olympic gymnast who moved to Argentina, giving start to Cristina Hardekopf and elevating her within the nation she now known as house.
Disclaimer: Argentina is extensively related for being the nation of alternative for Nazi battle criminals/social gathering fanatics fleeing Germany within the aftermath of World Conflict II. The Barwirth/Hardekopf household has no affiliation with this development. The household first moved to Argentina in 1938, previous to the outbreak of World Conflict II.
Who is aware of what the long run might maintain for Juliette Landi, however gymnasts are likely to carry out effectively after they swap sports activities. One of the vital well-known Olympic determine skaters of the Nineties received her begin in gymnastics, the enduring Surya Bonaly. Juliette and Surya are each French, each stay in the USA, and each competed in gymnastics T&T as their earlier sport.
Juliette Landi could also be an Olympic diver, however she is going to all the time be linked to the game of gymnastics. As a baby she grew up within the direct presence of Nastia Liukin and Simone Biles. She skilled contained in the halls of WOGA and WCC whereas making journeys along with her mother and father to Karolyi Ranch. These distinctive experiences have made her an instance of what it’s like rising up whereas being a member of gymnastics royalty. Through the years Madison Kocian has made a number of tribute put up on social media describing how a lot the Landi household meant to her, and each time she particularly included Juliette.
However the symbolism is that this. Again in 2016 when Madison Kocian went to the Olympics, Juliette Landi was the little child from the identical fitness center celebrating Madison as she departed and left. Now Juliette is the one going to the Olympics. Simone Biles was a giant a part of Juliette’s life when she was rising up. Now they are going to be going to the Olympics collectively.
There may be lots of irony in the way in which Cristina Hardekopf and Juliette Landi are linked by a 64 yr previous document that has solely occurred twice whereas sharing an absurd quantity of similarities within the means of attaining it. However the largest irony of all is that there are such a lot of “future stars” photos of Simone Biles with a younger elementary college aged gymnast who later grew as much as turn into a well-known gymnast herself. Generally they develop as much as turn into well-known Olympic divers as effectively.
