Arthur Nory forges on to Paris 2024

Brazilian gymnast Arthur Nory’s career has not always been smooth sailing.

The two-time Olympian won a triumphant bronze medal on the floor exercise in front of a home crowd at the 2016 Games in Rio, but five years later at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, he missed out on the medal finals and went home empty handed.

Driven by a love of his sport, Nory presses on, looking for a third trip to the Games at Paris 2024.

“I love gymnastics,” said Nory in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com prior to the Tokyo Games. “I love training. This passion and this love for what I do makes me grow, having this goal to get to the Olympic Games, to get to the World Championships, motivates to do what I love.”

At home on the world stage

Nory has gotten to do what he loves all around the world. But he’s also had the rare opportunity to compete in two Olympic Games held in what he considers home.

The 28-year-old was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to a Brazilian father and a Japanese mother, so when he realized the Olympic Games would be held first in Rio in 2016 and then in Tokyo it seemed like destiny.

He was given a third chance to compete at home on the global stage when the COVID-19 pandemic moved the 2021 World Championships from Copenhagen to Kitakyushu, Japan.

“Part of my family, my mother’s family, are from Japan, from Okinawa,” explained Nory prior to the Tokyo Games. “My blood is half-Japanese, half-Brazilian, so it will be amazing to compete at home again.”

In his first Olympic Games, Nory triumphed, winning floor exercise bronze alongside teammate Diego Hypolito, who took second.

But his trip to the Games in Tokyo didn’t quite go according to plan as he struggled with injury in the lead up to competition. A reigning floor exercise Olympic medallist and the 2019 world horizontal bar champion, Nory missed the final in both events while his team finished ninth in qualifying, one spot out of the team final.

“End of the Tokyo Games for me,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “Returning to Brazil tomorrow and leaving with all positive energy.

“Thank you to everyone who believed in me and gave me the strength to get here,” he continued.

His trip to the worlds in Kitakyushu saw him only enter on the horizontal bar. Nory again missed the final and a chance to defend his world title.

Resetting for Paris 2024

Undaunted, Nory remained positive, again thanking those who supported him in an Instagram post and reiterating his commitment to train for the Paris 2024 Games.

“Toward Paris,” he wrote following the worlds.

Later this week, at the Brazilian national individual apparatus championships, Trophy Brazil, Nory takes his first step toward a third Games with more enthusiasm.

“Write it down on your agenda, call your friends and just come honour the best of our sport,” he said in a post promoting the event.