“Artistry Is On Four Events.” Our Conversation With WCC’s Head Coach Patrick Kiens

In an exclusive interview with Inside Gymnastics, World Champions Centre Head Coach Patrick Kiens discussed his thoughts on the state of Romanian gymnastics, artistry deductions, and more. 

Together with Daymon Jones, Kiens coached the Romanian national team to the 2024 Olympic Games, the first time the country appeared at an Olympics as a full team since 2012. They also coached Ana Barbosu to an Olympic bronze medal on floor. Following the success in Paris, the duo moved to the United States to coach at World Champions Centre, where they overtook the program from the legendary Cecile Landi and Laurent Landi, who coached Simone Biles and many others to World and Olympic gold. 

Kiens was pleased with the progress he made in Romania, but administration changes within the Romanian federation encouraged him to change locations. 

“We knew we would not stay for another eight years in Romania because it’s just not a country where I see myself living for eight years,” Kiens said. 

Kiens enjoyed his time working with the president of the Romanian federation, Carmencita Constantin. However, the president is reelected every four years, and Constantin did not run for reelection. 

“If she is not going to be re-elected or she’s not going to run for president again, what will happen? We advise them: if you are smart, you keep these girls [the 2024 Romanian Olympic team] one more year, one more cycle in gymnastics, because that gives you time to rebuild the juniors, and there are good juniors in the country. There are always good juniors in Romania with potential, but you need to train them.”

Unfortunately, the new administration did not heed to his advice. A majority of the Paris Olympic team either moved to the U.S. to begin college gymnastics, or moved on from the sport. But Kiens doesn’t blame these athletes at all. 

“I cannot speak for them, but if they look at the federation, I can totally imagine that they think like, yeah, hell no, I’m not going back there because I’m not looked after.”

Texas-Bound 

Kiens and Jones have made quick progress since moving to WCC in Spring, Texas. In 2025 they coached Dulcy Caylor to her World Championship debut, and most recently coached Reese Esponda to the All-Around title at the U.S. Classic in July. 

“We try to create an environment where people like to work hard,” Kiens explained. “We train 30 to 35 hours a week, so it might as well be some fun because 35 hours is a lot of hours if you don’t like what you’re doing. And the only thing we ask from the athletes, you show up and you work very hard to become a better athlete.”

Kiens feels his athletes that had previously trained under the Landis were open to any changes he suggested, but also acknowledged that their system is not much different from the Landis training regime. Kiens and Jones have long been applauded for their fantastic work in the artistry department. He tells us that artistry is interwoven through the entire gym. 

“Artistry is on four events. So you point your feet at a low bar in a giant swing, that’s also artistry because it’s pretty and beautiful gymnastics. And yes, we spend time doing a lot of ballet. We don’t do ballet at a ballet bar. We do ballet on the beam, so it’s also part of our beam training how you stand on the beam and how you turn out your feet. It’s like ballet for gymnastics.” 

Kiens understands how to best work with the Code of Points, you cannot simply have difficult tumbling. “The floor doesn’t mean anything if you have big tumbles. If you don’t have good dance elements, if you don’t have the artistry, you still get slaughtered,” Kiens said.

Kiens tells Inside Gymnastics that some of the Team USA athletes at the Olympic Games in Paris were losing seven-eight tenths in artistry deductions on beam and floor.

“Oh, you should not ask me that question,” Kiens said when asked if the U.S. was improving in the artistry department. “I think it’s getting better,” he added. 

Kiens also incorporates an acting class specifically for gymnastics. He wants to make his athletes aware that they can be deducted for blank expression during their floor routines, he also ensures that they understand what the judges are searching for. He encourages judges in all countries to judge the same in domestic competitions as they would in international events. 

“If you get a very high score in your own country, because the artistry is not applied properly, then you might pick the wrong girls for your team. I think everybody’s on the same side. They want to score beautiful routines, and they want to judge beautiful routines, and we want to get the highest scores possible. So involving your judges in your process, I think, is a very smart choice.”