Artistic gymnastics: Emotion, ambition, success... Kaylia Nemour looks back on Paris 2024 and ahead to LA28 in an exclusive interview

By Céline Penicaud and Nicolas Kohlhuber
6 min|
Kaylia Nemour
Picture by AFP or licensors

After winning gold on the uneven bars at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Kaylia Nemour opened up about her feelings, her achievement, and her ambitions in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com.

The 17-year-old Algerian is struggling to get over her emotions after topping the podium at Bercy Arena. “I don't quite realize it yet. I'm starting a little bit more, but I still can't believe I've achieved the dream of my sporting life. I feel like there's still more to come. But it's just crazy,” she told us.

And the emotion is just as high as her expectations. Having been immersed in the world of artistic gymnastics since the age of 10, Kaylia Nemour has never lost sight of her Olympic dream.

“I've been thinking about doing the Olympics seriously since 2020. And I really envisaged getting that medal from the World Championships in 2023 onwards,” she explained.

“At the African Championships, I did my new element and got a very good score, and that's when I said to myself, 'wow, that's the second time I've scored above 15, now I'm starting to hit it big'. Then I won the silver medal at the World Championships, just a few tenths away from the gold medal, and that's when I said to myself that it was possible.”

READ - Kaylia Nemour wins Algeria's first olympic gymnastics title on the uneven bars

From the stress of qualifying to the gift of her now iconic leotard

Kaylia Nemour's adventure at Paris 2024 began a week before the start of qualifying for the artistic gymnastics events, when she arrived at the Olympic Village. Still busy training day and night, the young gymnast “didn't have much time to visit the village”, she recalled. “I was pretty stressed before the qualifiers because I didn't really know what to expect.”

A feeling that contrasts with her entry into the competition. “When I was at the competition itself, it was a little less impressive than I thought it would be. When I was a kid, I really thought of the Games as something crazy. It's true that it's crazy, but I still told myself that I belonged there”, she recounted.

The qualifiers went well, and the Algerian was all set to compete in the uneven bars final at Bercy Arena on August 4. The pressure was on.

“It was a very stressful final. Especially as I came in behind the gymnast from the People's Republic of China (Qiu Qiyuan), who had achieved a very good score.

"But my coaches trained me well for it, and subconsciously my body told itself it had to make the move of its life, and I managed to get it out at the right time in the right place.

“The more I step back, the more I realize that we're only two tenths behind the Chinese. So if I'd just made one more mistake... I really pulled out the right move at the right time, it's crazy,” she said.

This near-perfect performance earned her a gold medal in her first Olympic Games, and thus a place in Olympic history. To mark the occasion, Kaylia Nemour donated her leotard to the Olympic Museum.

“It's beautiful and I'm very happy and honoured to pass on my leotard to the museum, it's incredible,” she told us.

Kaylia Nemour, proud to leave her mark on an entire continent

In addition to inscribing her name on the Olympic roll of honour, Kaylia Nemour became the first Algerian and even African gymnast to win an Olympic medal. “It's surreal, I don't realize that I was the first to do it, I'm so proud,” she explained.

At just 17 years of age, she considers her gymnastics to be “quite mature”, and is aware that she has a pioneering role to play in influencing young Africans.

“I think I inspire the little girls who see me every day on videos and in competitions, and I'm happy to pass on my passion to them through my gymnastics,” Nemour said.

And she has a message for the Algerian people, who took her to the top of the podium:

“I really thank the Algerians for all the support they give me every day. I've been competing for Algeria for two or three years now. They've supported me from start to finish. I felt it a lot during the final, there were a lot of Algerians in the stands. They supported me. It really warms my heart and I'm very happy to have this support on a daily basis.”

Ever greater ambitions for Los Angeles 2028

Kaylia Nemour has no intention of stopping there. While she admits to needing a little rest after these Paris 2024 Olympic Games, she wants to get back to work quickly to prepare for the future.

“I'm going to start training again, continue competing for my club and for Algeria, hoping to go all the way to 2028. That's the aim of starting an Olympic cycle again,” she told us.

And her sights are set even higher than the Olympic title on uneven bars for Los Angeles 2028: “I can do something on beam and in the all-around too,”

Fifth in the Paris 2024 all-around competition, the Algerian gymnast showed solid fundamentals that she plans to refine.

“We fought it out for third place with three or four gymnasts, so I think I can do it. I've still got four years to perfect my skills, and then I'll have the experience of my first Olympic Games, so I'm hoping for the best.”

And to help her improve, she will also be able to draw on the advice of a certain Simone Biles, with whom she shared some wonderful moments at Bercy Arena.

“Before each move, she'd say to me 'you can do it, let's go!' She'd encourage me during and as soon as I'd finished, she'd give me a check and say 'good job'. Frankly, the all-around was a great experience with all the great gymnasts, and I really enjoyed myself,” she said.

Uneven bars, beam, all-around... Kaylia Nemour intends to compete on several fronts in Los Angeles. And in the meantime, the gymnast who went through a painful period in 2021, with two knee operations, would like to be remembered “as someone who fought to make her dreams come true.”