https://arab.news/gdcru
PARIS: When Kaylia Nemour competes alongside Simone Biles and her gymnastics rivals at the Paris Olympics, she feels right at home.
The 17-year-old athlete, one of the best in the world on uneven bars, was born in France. She grew up here, and still trains here.
She posted the best score on her favorite apparatus during Sunday’s women’s team qualifications and will be aiming for the gold medal in that discipline.
Too bad for the Olympics host country, she competes for Algeria. The situation is due to a dispute between the French gymnastics federation and Nemour’s club of Avoine Beaumont, which has led the gymnast to embrace her father’s Algerian nationality.
The long-lasting crisis was settled after the French minister for Sport intervened following an initial refusal from the federation to release the gymnast that could have jeopardized her presence in Paris.
Nemour’s massive score of 15.600 on Sunday was unmatched by any of her rivals. It was the second highest score of the day on any apparatus, bettered only by Biles’ first vault score of 15.800. Nemour was consistent on all four events and also qualified in fifth place for the all-around final, where no French athlete will be represented.