History made for Algeria, Africa, and 17-year-old phenom Kaylia Nemour.
Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour became the first African gymnast to win an Olympic medal when she secured the gold with a breathtaking routine on the asymmetric bars at the Paris Games on Sunday that wowed the crowd in Bercy Arena.
The 17-year-old’s fast-paced routine featuring a number of complex release-and-catch manoeuvres delighted the crowd who came to support a gymnast who had previously represented France.
Fans roared and jumped to their feet as soon as Nemour completed her dismount. She immediately broke down in tears as she handed Algeria their first medal of the Paris Olympics, with her performance scoring a staggering 15.700 points.
Nemour was still in complete disbelief after the competition.
« I can’t believe this is happened, » the teenager said after winning her first gold medal at a major global competition. « This is too much. I have no words. »
In a continuation of her own ‘Redemption Tour,’ American Suni Lee snuck in for bronze to secure her sixth Olympic medal, tying American Olympic great Alexandra ‘Aly’ Raisman in the U.S. standings.
While Suni was elated, today was about Nemour. Expected to cruise to gold, Nemour had already posted the top two uneven bars scores in Paris – a staggering 15.600 and 15.533. In the qualification round, Nemour cleared the competition and positioned herself as the gold-medal favorite, finishing .534 ahead of Qiyuan in second. Up until today, it seemed that no one was touching the Algerian superstar.
However, Qiyuan upped the ante when it mattered most. While defending Olympic Champion, Belgium’s Nina Derwael held on to narrow lead after four athletes, the defending World Champion stepped up to the podium. Qiyuan floated through her dynamic pirouetting elements and release moves, sticking her dismount to immediate elation. While the routine was clean, the difficulty would be the game changer. In gutsy move, Qiyuan had increased her difficulty by nearly four-tenths.
President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, congratulated on Sunday the Algerian gymnast Kaylia Nemour on winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
