Simone Biles' former coach Cecile Landi pens emotional message as gymnast earns prestigious honorary degree

Simone Biles' former coach, Cecile Landi, shared her reaction after the former gave her commencement speech to the graduates of Washington University. The decorated American gymnast was also presented with the Doctor of Humane Letters during the event.

The event was held on Monday and attended by several members of the Board of Trustees of the University. Just a day after the event, Washington University in St Louis shared a few glimpses from the event on Instagram featuring Biles and other notable individuals from the institution.

The post featured the American gymnast giving a speech to the students and receiving an honorary doctorate on the stage.

Landi shared a picture from this post on her stories and dropped a 4-word reaction to express her pride in Biles. She remarked:

"Proud of you, always"

Screenshot of Landi's Instagram story featuring her reaction to Biles' recent achievement (Image via: Landi's Instagram/@cecilelandi)

Cecile Landi, being one of the closest allies to Simone Biles, has always celebrated the seven-time Olympic gold medalist's successes like her own, including Biles' achievements at the Laureus and Sports Illustrated Awards, even after the duo split up last year.

Simone Biles recounts the importance of passion for being a successful athlete

Simone Biles (Image via: Getty)

Simone Biles shed light on the importance of passion behind becoming a successful athlete or in any other field during her interaction with the graduates at Washington University in St Louis.

Biles shared that to be an elite in a field, the individual has to be passionate about becoming the best version of themselves. She further advised the students to move forward even when the roads seem uncertain. Biles said (via NBC10 Philadelphia):

"To be an elite student or an elite athlete or an elite anything, you have to be ... the kind of person who is fueled by their own passion. All I ever wanted was to be the greatest Simone that I could be. My goal was to be the greatest Simone Biles of all time. The world doesn't need you to be perfect. It needs you to be bold. It needs you to care and to keep going even when things don't go as planned."

During her address to the students, Biles also opened up about her lifelong dream to join a University to not just compete in collegiate gymnastics meets but carve a career in medicine-related fields.