Fans in France’s Bercy Arena will once again be treated to the stunning asymmetric bar work of Kaylia Nemour during the second day of apparatus finals on Sunday, when the young Algerian breakout will be seeking her country’s first Olympic gymnastics medal.
That feat will not come easy as the bar lineup boasts the gold and bronze medallists from Tokyo, Belgian Nina Derwael and American Sunisa Lee, but they are expected to fall short of the 17-year-old Nemour.
The young bar specialist’s programme has the highest potential score among the field because she performs several superbly difficult elements together in combination, and even the defending Olympic champion bows to her talent.
“If Nemour hits, there’s no way I’m getting close,” Derwael told reporters during training in Paris.
French-born Nemour qualified in first place on asymmetric bars with a huge total of 15.600, more than half a point above the second qualifier and reigning world champion, Qiu Qiyuan of China.
China’s Qiu Qiyuan, 17, who beat Nemour to gold at last year’s world championships in Antwerp, was second with a score of 15.066 points.
“It’s good, but could be better,” said Nemour after topping the qualifiers on July 28.
“It was a lot of pressure because it’s the first apparatus, first Olympics, and I’m starting with the bars, my goal.
“But I’m happy, it went really well. There is still a week before the final and I still have room to improve.”
Nemour also pulled off the Yurchenko double twist vault, scoring 14.000, on her final apparatus. She had a few errors on floor (13.160) and beam (13.200) but her overall total of 55.966 earned a place in Thursday’s all-around final.
She finished fifth behind the returning Simone Biles, second-placed Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and American Sunisa Lee.
Nemour has competed for Algeria since last year after a dispute with the French gymnastics federation, and was delighted with the warm welcome in Paris.
“I didn’t expect that,” she said earlier in the week.
“Obviously, it’s stressful but overall I’m happy with that performance.”
Working on the psychological side for the past year has been “paying off”, she said.
“I can still improve things. I have three days left to work, so I’m just going to make the most of it.”
American Lee, who qualified in third and took bronze in the all-around final, will know exactly the mark she needs to earn her sixth Olympic medal as she will be the last of the eight gymnasts to perform.
The women’s bar final is the only medal event that will not feature Biles, who qualified in ninth.
Bars is the only apparatus on which the American lacks the difficulty to compete with the top contenders.
Biles is the first reserve athlete, meaning she will step in should any of the bar finalists pull out at the last minute. If that happened, she might perform her original skill, a clear hip circle forward with 1.5 turns to handstand, which she has not yet displayed in Paris.
Biles, 27, achieved 14.433 on the apparatus, which is her weakest, and the four-time Olympic champion finished ninth to just miss out on the eight-woman final in a week’s time.
