Kaylia Nemour of Algeria won her country’s first gold medal in gymnastics by performing an exciting routine in the uneven bars final on Sunday, just beating Qiu Qiyuan of China.
Sunisa Lee from the U.S. earned her third medal in Paris and sixth in her Olympic career by securing bronze, the same position she finished in Tokyo three years ago.
Nemour, who is French and still trains in France, switched to compete for Algeria after disagreements with the French gymnastics federation and her club, Avoine Beaumont. This change allowed her to represent her father’s Algerian nationality.
At just 17 years old, Nemour dazzles on the bars with a routine full of releases and complex hand movements that require both skill and precision.
Nemour had to use all her abilities to surpass Qiu, who performed impressively with perfectly aligned legs and a straight handstand. The crowd cheered loudly when Qiu’s score of 15.5 was announced.
Nemour scored 15.700. Even though Nemour competes under the Algerian flag, she was cheered as if she were at home, with a loud applause following her historic win.
Lee has been dealing with several kidney issues over the past 15 months, which affected her training. She only began to focus seriously on Paris in December. Despite this, she has already won three medals, including helping the U.S. team win gold last Tuesday and earning bronze in the all-around behind Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade of Brazil.
Lee’s six medals put her just one behind Shannon Miller for the second most by an American gymnast. She has the chance to match Miller’s record in the balance beam final on Sunday.
