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 |
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]
History
After 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 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
The 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
- 2016 Olympic Champion; 5x medalist (4 gold, 1 bronze)
- 2020 Olympic medalist (1 silver, 1 bronze)
- 2013 World Champion; 4x medalist (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
- 2014 World Champion; 5x medalist (4 gold, 1 silver)
- 2015 World Champion; 5x medalist (4 gold, 1 bronze)
- 2018 World Champion; 6x medalist (4 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
- 2019 World Champion; 5x medalist (5 gold)
- 2023 World Champion; 5x medalist (4 gold, 1 silver)
- 8x National Champion
- USA National Team member (2012–16; 2018–21 2023-present)
- 2020 Olympic team silver medalist
- 2022 World Champion (team) and silver medalist (vault, floor exercise)
- USA National Team member (2013–present)
- UCLA gymnastics (2022–23, 2025–26)
- Joined WCC in 2019
- USA National Team member (2018–22)
- 2021 World Championships non-traveling alternate
- Auburn Tigers (2023–26)
- Joined WCC in 2020
- 2023 Pan American Games champion (team, uneven bars)
- 2023 Pan American team champion
- 2022 Pan American silver medalist (team, uneven bars)
- USA National Team member (2021–present)
- 2023 World Champion (team)
- 2023 Pan American champion; 4x medalist (2 gold, 2 silver)
- USA National Team member (2021, 2023–present)
- Joined WCC in 2023
- 2023 Pan American Games team champion
- 2023 Pan American champion; 4x medalist (3 gold, 1 silver)
- USA National Team member (2021–present)
- Joined WCC in 2023
References
- ↑ 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.