$20 Million Rich Andy Reid Tops, but Simone Biles Coach’s Absence Shows Saddening American Reality of Gymnastics

It’s hard to ignore the unfortunate reality of pay disparity with coaches. While some coaches make huge numbers, others are often on the wayside. Let’s, for instance, look at the highest-paid coach of 2024! Andy Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach, is the highest-paid coach for the year 2024. So how much does he make? Well, Andy Reid made $20 million this year.
That’s right—twenty million. Meanwhile, the second most-paid coach also comes from the NFL world. Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos follows Andy with $18 million in earnings. Here, of the top 5 places, three are occupied by NFL coaches and the other two by NBA coaches, including Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich. Notice the absence of something?
The missing piece of parity!
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The top 50 most paid coaches list by Sportico shows that there is not a single gymnastics coach on that list. The same sport that had Simone Biles bringing seven Olympic golds to America seems to have an issue with finances. And it is a baffling one! Let’s take the example of Cecile Landi, the woman behind Simone Biles, and 11 Olympic wins for America! Any guesses on her income?
Well, Cecile Landi makes $340,000 annually as of now. But that amount came after she had a 70% pay hike while shifting to the University of Georgia! Meanwhile, Simone Biles’ old coach, Aimee Boorman, faces a similar fate. Aimee, too, seems to elude the ever-so-evasive top 50 list! It was with Cecile that Simone created history at Pairs. Meanwhile, it was with Aimee that Simone Biles went on to win five medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Imagine coaching names like Jordan Chiles and the queen herself, Biles, and still being unable to get paid they deserve! That is the unfortunate reality.
Despite the wins, the coaches that are making these athletes Olympic-worthy are not being paid their worth. The disparity between mainstream sports like the NFL and NBA and that of sports like gymnastics is huge. Despite being one of the most watched Olympic events and considering that these women wrote the gymnastic Olympic history, the sport continues to struggle. But that’s not all; the disparity further deepens as the intersection of gender comes in!
In the world of coaching, things must have improved, right?
Let’s look at some statistics from the International Olympic Committee reports to understand the depth of disparity. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the number of female coaches was only 13%. However, the 2024 Olympics showed massive progress. The games saw 23% of female coaches. Progress, sure. But when you dig deeper, it’s clear that true gender parity is still a distant dream. While it was a historic game in terms of gender equality among athletes, for coaches, it was pretty much the same. In a sport like gymnastics, where women have ruled the podium for decades, why does it feel like things haven’t changed much at all?
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Well, for starters, female coaches are still underpaid, underrepresented, and too often ignored when it comes to compensation. If Reid’s $20 million is mind-boggling, then the absence of gymnastics coaches on the most-paid lists is gut-wrenching. It is a sad state of affairs, considering gymnastics is a sport that brings America gold medals nearly every year.
Despite winning, gymnastics continues to fall short in terms of representation and compensation among the coaches. Additionally, get this: out of 31 International Sports Federations, only three have women in positions of power. And with just 24 women chairing 206 National Olympic Committees, the glass in sports seems to remain untouched and almost bulletproof. Well, so the question remains. How long will it take before these coaches finally get the recognition—and the paycheck—they deserve?