Amari Celestine balances her senior season of gymnastics with her extracurricular activities
Amari Celestine has been a superstar gymnast for the Missouri Tigers. Over the last three years, Celestine has been an integral part of the Tigers’ success. She has earned career-high scores of 9.925 or better in all four events. But her journey to success in gymnastics has been fueled by her life outside of athletics.
Celestine is a member and former president of Sigma Gamma Rho, a sorority in the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Celestine is currently in her last term as president of the NPHC. She is also a marketing intern for the University of Missouri Athletics. Through this program, she is able to work on the ground at Missouri football, volleyball and wrestling events. She works before the events rolling t-shirts or picking up giveaways. She is also a member of the fan engagement team, working diligently to get fans excited. She said sports marketing is something she is interested in doing as a career.
“So however I can get butts into seats to watch the sporting events, that’s pretty much what I handle,” Celestine said.
These activities have let Celestine explore other interests besides gymnastics.
“Having these other opportunities outside of gymnastics has honestly allowed me to figure things out and start my adulting process a little earlier,” Celestine said. “I would say that it definitely has helped mold me into a different person. I feel like it’s also helped me be a better leader.”
Missouri senior gymnast Amari Celestine practices on the bars during the team’s open practice on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, at Tiger Performance Complex in Columbia, Mo. Celestine has competed for Missouri since 2022. (Photo by Hannah Henderson)
When Celestine began her recruitment journey, Missouri immediately stuck out to her. Missouri gymnastics head coach Shannon Welker’s passion for the team received Celestine’s attention. Celestine said Welker ensured everything would be perfect for her recruiting visit. He paid attention to the little details that she would appreciate, such as flying the California native out when the weather was warm and even sending Celestine a birthday card.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Celestine said. “I was like, oh my goodness, they know when my birthday is, this is awesome! Like, I’m lucky to get a happy birthday from my dad! This is amazing to me.”
Celestine could also feel how natural the team worked together. While she expected the team to be on their best behavior when a recruit was present, she also felt the rawness of the team.
“They actually cared about each other,” Celestine said. “They were cheering for each other during conditioning. Watching them cheer for each other during conditioning was mind-blowing. I was like, you guys are suffering during conditioning, and you’re still managing to push yourself and be there for your teammate. That’s amazing. Mizzou was undeniably attractive to me as a university.”
Celestine said she has several goals she would like to achieve during her senior season. One of those goals is to compete on each apparatus. Throughout her career, Celestine has successfully competed in all four events, but has yet to compete in each in a single meet. In order to compete in all-around, Celestine has returned to competing on bars, an event she missed last year due to a shoulder injury. She worked on improving her strength in the offseason with her trainer Riley Nelson.
Celestine said she missed doing cast handstands the most on bars. She said she also missed training with Missouri gymnastics uneven bar coach, Whitney Snowden.
“I missed everything about bars,” Celestine said. “I missed training with Whitney, just because she’s so passionate over there and I missed that energy and that fire.”
In her year off of bars, Celestine added beam to her arsenal with the help of Missouri’s beam coach Lacey Rubin. Now, she is training in all four events and preparing for her all-around debut.
“We’re excited to have another option in the all-around,” Welker said. “It’s hard to be in the top six week in and week out, I certainly think Miss Amari has a great shot at being in the all-around this year.”
Missouri senior gymnast Amari Celestine practices on the bars during the team’s open practice on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, at Tiger Performance Complex in Columbia, Mo. Celestine is a three-time All-SEC Team gymnast. (Photo by Hannah Henderson)
Celestine said her family is one of the most important aspects of her life, citing herself as a family-oriented person. Her brother Artyon is a professional dancer. He was a pro dancer on Dancing with the Stars: Juniors and has been choreographing Celestine’s floor exercise routines since her senior year of high school. The sibling duo begged Celestine’s high school coaches to allow her brother to choreograph her routine and since then the rest is history.
Each year Celestine dedicates her floor routines to something special in her life. This year she plans on dedicating the routine to two family members who passed away this year: her cousin, Kenny and her uncle, Mark. The two family members were integral parts of the support Celestine would receive from her family. Her uncle sent her care packages and her cousin always cooked for her when he visited. Celestine is choosing to dedicate her season to her family.
Celestine quotes her mom as her biggest inspiration. She has helped her immensely in every decision she makes in her life.
“I want to be just like her,” Celestine said. “She’s so selfless, if I asked her for the clothes off her back, she would give it to me. She just lives, breathes, does everything for her kids, and I just honestly hope to be a woman like her one day. I’m 21 years old. I can’t make a single decision without running it by her.”
One of the biggest takeaways Celestine has from her gymnastics career is being a team player. In her four years on the team, she has worked with a variety of gymnasts from all around the globe.
“Being able to work with people despite your demographic and backgrounds,” Celestine said. “We’re cut from different cloths, and being able to work together to still achieve the same goals.”
Celestine and the rest of Missouri gymnastics kick off their season in a quad meet in Columbia on Friday, Jan. 3.
Edited by Dylan Heinrich | dheinrich@themaneater.com
Copyedited by Chase Pray and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com