Why did Kaylia Nemour switch to Algeria?

[KathySantoni]

Surely they were aware of her prospects when she switched over. This seems like such a shame for Paris with not having what I’m assuming would have been the French gymnast with the highest chance to medal representing France.

 

[RichardL]

This is a whole thing. The French federation looks really bad in all of it, but she also developed into the gymnast that she is now outside of the French system, from what I understand. The routines she was showing while competing for French clubs showed promise but not such that she would be considered a shoo-in for Olympic gold on bars with potential for an AA medal and a beam finals berth. The team would obviously be in much stronger contention for a medal with her in the line-up (and not relying solely on MDJS having the meet of her life).

 

[KathySantoni]

Is she now living in Algeria or still in France?

 

[crdubb17]

Watch with the subtitles if you’re interested.

 

[Gymfan93]

There is also. Summary Here on wiki, but I don’t believe that’s all to the story.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Is she now living in Algeria or still in France?

I think France still? I wouldn't expect there'd be similar facilities available to her in Algeria.

 

[Nanou84]

Kaylia's story just shows the incompetence of the French federation, its over-inflated ego and its inability to admit its mistakes and question itself.
It all starts with a conflict between the club in Avoine, where Kaylia has been training since the beginning, and the French federation, which accuses the club's coaches of mistreating and controlling its gymnasts. A 2-year investigation led to the case being dismissed. Despite this victory for the Avoine coaches, the federation still refuses to allow the Avoine gymnasts to be monitored by their coaches in competition or during national training camps. This is notably the case for Carolann Héduit, a member of the Liverpool Worlds team, and Elena Colas, our new French prodigy who has a great chance of winning the European title next May. Elena Colas has even floated the idea of competing for Portugal if her coaches are not allowed to be on the floor with her, as some of her grandparents are of Portuguese origin.
Coming back to Kaylia, she had to undergo surgery for osteochondritis. Following her rehabilitation, her sports doctor and surgeon authorized her to resume training on all four apparatus. However, the federal doctor refused to allow her to take part in national training camps and competitions, claiming that she would be endangering her health. What's more, as part of their Olympic preparations, the French federation demanded that all gymnasts likely to make the team train together in Paris. Kaylia and the other gymnasts from Avoine, who felt they had good training conditions and were close to family and friends, refused to go to Paris. Kaylia found herself in a no-win situation, unable to compete, unable to represent France and unable to hope to take part in the Olympic Games. The Avoine coaches warned the French federation that they were depriving themselves of a gymnast capable of competing with Nina Derwael. The federation laughed and didn't take them seriously.
Unfortunately, they'll just have to bite their fingers off! It's a terrible mess!

 

[Nanou84]

Is she now living in Algeria or still in France?

She has always been training in Avoine from the start. She lives in France. Representing Algeria is the only option she had to be able to participate to the Olympic Games.

 

[onodian]

Spain had similar problems with this highly-centralized approach in Madrid. Sometimes, for young athletes, it's just not ideal. In any case, I'm very happy Nemour overcame all this shit, and hopefully she still has bigger things in her future.

 

[Sanzhirovka]

I'd go as far as to say it's almost never ideal for young athletes. In terms of "pros and cons" almost all of the "pros" are good for the federation, whereas most of the "cons" hurt the children.

And anyhow, the way France does it merely protects the monopoly held by St Etienne and INSEP coaches on international assignments.

I have respect for the Swiss who seem to have caught on that centralized training for juniors does not actually help produce champions.

 

[Passion]

 

[MaryClare]

Well it sounds like the French Olympic team has been decided

 

[Snowfan]

That sucks I wanted her on the Paris team.

 

[Denn]

... she would be considered a shoo-in for Olympic gold on bars with potential for an AA medal and a beam finals berth.

At the rate she improved this year, she might even show up with a 14.0 floor routine, too. She scored 13.7 last time out, and was getting 12.7 a year ago. And the 13.7 had some pretty clear ways to improve it.

 

[Bob]

That's a shame I liked her.

 

[Ginger]

More drama…
Per Liviefromparis and Katherine Keirns Twitter, French federation decided to downgrade Avoine club (from what I gathered, meaning they won’t be allowed to compete in the main French league, among the top 12 clubs).
Which also means the took away the financial support for Avoine gymnasts, among them Elena Colas, the current European Junior champion.
One would think they learned their lesson after they lost Nemour (and how good she became) and forced Heduit into retirement, but now they might lose Colas too.

 

[Kittentoes]

What is wrong with them?!

 

[Bob]

Colas is lovely why would they risk losing her too. So arrogant. I can't imagine your national federation basically removing your club from the system. Quite ridiculous.

 

[RedBirdie]

They'd rather lose outstanding gymnasts because the adults think petty feuds are more important. Utter insanity.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Idiots.

I do hope the rumours about her having other citizenship options are true. And if she doesn't, I hope she goes nationality shopping. For all the criticisms of that, in a sport where so many of the federations are abusive and/or stupid, athletes being able to go elsewhere is important protection.