Fans at France's Bercy Arena will once again be treated to impressive uneven bar work from Kaylia Nemour during the second day of apparatus finals on Sunday, as the Algerian upstart will seek her country's first Olympic gymnastics medal.
That feat will not be easy, with Tokyo gold and bronze medallists Nina Derwael of Belgium and Sunisa Lee of the United States on beam, but they are not expected to catch the 17-year-old Nemour.
The young bar specialist's program has the highest potential of any in the field, as it combines several extremely difficult elements, and even the current Olympic champion surrenders to her talent.
“If Nemour hits, there's no way I'm going to get close,” Derwael told reporters during training in Paris.
France's Nemour qualified first on uneven bars with a massive total of 15.600, more than half a point ahead of second-place finisher and reigning world champion Qiu Qiyuan of China.
China's Qiu Qiyuan, 17, who beat Nemour to win gold at last year's World Championships in Antwerp, was second with a score of 15.066 points.
“It's good, but it could be better,” Nemour said after topping the leaderboard 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 very well. There's still a week to go until the final and I still have room for improvement.”
Nemour also nailed the double-twisting Yurchenko vault, scoring 14.000 on her final apparatus. She made a few mistakes on floor (13.160) and beam (13.200), but her overall total of 55.966 earned her a spot in Thursday's all-around final.
She finished fifth, behind returnee Simone Biles, second-place finisher Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and American Sunisa Lee.
Nemour has been competing 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,” he said earlier this week.
“Obviously it’s stressful, but overall I’m happy with the performance.”
Working on the psychological aspect over the past year has “borne fruit,” he said.
“I can still improve things. I have three days of work left, so I'm going to make the most of them.”
American Lee, who qualified third and took bronze in the all-around final, will know exactly what mark she needs to win her sixth Olympic medal as she will be the last of the eight gymnasts to perform.
The women's beam final is the only medal event that Biles, who qualified in ninth place, will not compete in.
The bars are the only apparatus on which the American lacks the difficulty necessary to compete with the best contenders.
Biles is the first reserve athlete, meaning she will fill in if any of the beam finalists drop out at the last minute. If that were to happen, she would be able to perform her original skill, a forward hip circle with 1.5 turns to handstand, which she has yet to show in Paris.
Biles, 27, scored a 14.433 on the apparatus, her weakest mark, and the four-time Olympic champion finished ninth, narrowly missing out on the eight-woman final in a week.
