With over 25 years of coaching experience, Cleo Washington has had the privilege of training some brilliant gymnasts throughout her career. Though she didn’t accomplish much as a gymnast herself, her achievements as a coach are nothing short of remarkable in the USA. But what surprised many was how she switched countries in November 2025. And just about five months after the move, she is opening up about the journey so far.

Washington left the USA and headed to Singapore to pursue her dream job. She is now helping to build a high-performance training environment at the Mokara Gymnastics Academy. This was a big decision, as gymnastics may be a prominent sport in the USA, but its status isn’t the same in Singapore. However, Washington seems to be enjoying her job to the fullest.

“It’s much easier to coach an athlete when you care about them holistically. Athletes in Singapore can compete with the best in the world,” Washington remarked in a chat with Gymnastics Now.

However, moving to a different country comes with its own challenges, and Washington is still adapting to them. She talked about how speaking with her family and friends in the USA has become tricky because Singapore is 12 hours ahead. Baking has been another “trivial” challenge for her, and she has yet to fully get used to the heat and humidity in the country.

But the main challenge for Washington is to provide high-performance training to the gymnasts present at the academy and take them to the next level. Good thing for the athletes, she is known for doing exactly that. She has developed various American talents, such as Morgan Hurd, Nola Matthews, and Tyler Turner, over the years through her efficient coaching style and has guided them to major honors.

At Mokara, her approach centers on positive, athlete-centered coaching. She creates environments where gymnasts feel safe to take risks, learn from challenges, and grow steadily toward their goals. Her coaching emphasizes purposeful progressions, thoughtful feedback, and consistent standards, ensuring every athlete receives expert guidance at each stage of development.

Washington spent almost seven years as the head coach at Airborne Gymnastics in California. Additionally, she became the first black coach of a world champion in 2017, when Hurd won the all-around final at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

While Washington is undoubtedly a top gymnastics coach, the question remains whether she made the right choice in choosing Singapore as her destination.

The current status of gymnastics in Singapore

Gymnastics may not be as big in Singapore as it is in the USA, but to say that it is not advancing would be a vague statement. Looking at the recent results, it can be said that the sport is moving in the right direction. The clearest proof of this is Amanda Yap’s performance at the 2025 World Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta.

The 15-year-old at the time became the first Singaporean to reach a final at the World Championships after earning a score of 13.300 in the balance beam qualifiers. She would go on to improve her score to 13.333 in the final but finish sixth and fail to land a podium finish. However, this was still a historic moment for Yap and Singapore, as one of their gymnasts could finally leave a mark on the grandest stage.

Speaking about Amanda’s performance, Washington pointed out that it was pivotal for the sport’s growth in the country:

“It kind of put gymnastics on the map [here].”

She also mentioned that people in Singapore often bring up Amanda when she tells them she is a gymnastics coach.

With there being no shortage of talent and public interest on the rise as well, gymnastics does have the potential to become massive in Singapore in the near future.