Why did Kaylia Nemour switch to Algeria?

[MaryClare]

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.

Her mother said in an interview that she has Portuguese grandparents.

 

[Hatsumomo]

This is so ridiculous. In a few short weeks, France is going to be hosting the Olympics. A French gymnast is poised to win UB gold 20 years after the last time a French gymnast won UB gold but under a different flag due to all this nonsense.

 

[makam]

So is something really rotten at the club or is it crazy internal politics? I never really had a handle on the whole mess.

 

[RedBirdie]

Internal politics. Apparently the head coach at Avoine (Heduitt, Nemour, and Colas' club) is the best coach in France. The French fed wanted him to move to INSEP, which I believe is the national team center. He said thanks but no thanks, and the French fed has been on the warpath ever since.

 

[MaryClare]

Internal politics. Apparently the head coach at Avoine (Heduitt, Nemour, and Colas' club) is the best coach in France. The French fed wanted him to move to INSEP, which I believe is the national team center. He said thanks but no thanks, and the French fed has been on the warpath ever since.

Apparently dates right the way back to when he had Youna

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Her mother said in an interview that she has Portuguese grandparents.

Heard something about Poland as well, so hopefully she's able to get a switch arranged.

 

[Hatsumomo]

Either country would be happy to have her. If France wants to piss away talent, so be it.

 

[brg09]

Apparently dates right the way back to when he had Youna

To be honest I thought he seemed like an ass when I saw him with Youna--I think at 2009 euros?--but if recent and current gymnasts feel that he's a good coach and decent person then I guess it's up to them.

 

[Passion]

Was he the coach who got the deduction for touching her while spotting once and then would hold his arms way out every time after that to prove he wasn't touching, and then just kept standing there like that as she fell?

ETA: I googled it, a different coach got the spotting deduction, but Nemour's coach did the goofass arms-out-to-prove-he-wasn't-touching thing, and she got injured

https://gymbits.com/tag/youna-dufournet/

"Poor Youna. She has had such bad luck on the uneven bars lately! First she lost a medal at the 2010 European Championships after French National Coach Eric Demay accidentally touched her while spotting her on the Def, incurring a 0.5 deduction. You can catch a clear view of this incident at 1:15."



"That was a mistake. Demay is not Dufournet’s personal coach, and he probably just erred on the side of caution and ended up mistiming his spotting.

What gets me is the turn of events just a few weeks later at the French National Championships. This time it’s Dufournet’s personal coach in charge: Marc Chirilcenco. Never before have I seen a coach spot a gymnast in such a fashion. Could it be that he was sticking it to Demay and making a show of not touching his gymnast? Well that plan sure backfired; Dufournet slipped off the bar and landed awkwardly, injuring her meniscus."



"Athlete safety should be paramount. Dufournet showed some lovely gymnastics at the 2009 World Championships and at the 2010 European Championships, but before that she was inconsistent as all get out and an accident waiting to happen. One of the most alarming examples of this is her floor routine from the 2009 European Championships. The scary crashes at 0:17 and 0.58 prove that she was not ready to perform a double layout or a 1.5-twist through to double back."



"Why push her? She is such a clean gymnast that she will still score well with easier routines. Case in point: Dufournet won the bronze medal on vault at the 2009 World Championships with a near-perfect Yurchenko-1.5 and a clean layout Podkopayeva. I hope Dufournet recovers in time to make a run for the 2012 Olympic Games. And maybe a change of coach wouldn’t hurt…."

 

[ruby]

There's definitely a long backstory with the French federation and Nemour's coach. I'm glad you dug out this post because the videos show exactly what he is like. He is a horrible person and impossible to work with. It's a pity everyone has jumped on the "poor Kailya, mean French fed" train because it has always been about protecting the health of a great gymnast and not about not letting her compete out of pettiness.

 

[brg09]

I don't remember the spotting issue. I DO remember Youna falling off the beam (I think it was beam) at 2009 Euros and her coach pacing the sidelines and looking PISSED, 90s (Rybacki, Nunno, Forster et al) style.

There's definitely a long backstory with the French federation and Nemour's coach. I'm glad you dug out this post because the videos show exactly what he is like. He is a horrible person and impossible to work with. It's a pity everyone has jumped on the "poor Kailya, mean French fed" train because it has always been about protecting the health of a great gymnast and not about not letting her compete out of pettiness.

 

[Passion]

I don't remember the spotting issue. I DO remember Youna falling off the beam (I think it was beam) at 2009 Euros and her coach pacing the sidelines and looking PISSED, 90s (Rybacki, Nunno, Forster et al) style.

This?

 

[Kara]

This?

That routine is terrifying; she should have been stopped after the first crash; letting her keep going after the second should be criminal.

 

[brg09]

That routine is terrifying; she should have been stopped after the first crash; letting her keep going after the second should be criminal.

Yes, that's the one--sorry, for some reason I thought it was beam.

Yeah at 1:40 you get to witness this guy's charming personality.

 

[Ginger]

There's definitely a long backstory with the French federation and Nemour's coach. I'm glad you dug out this post because the videos show exactly what he is like. He is a horrible person and impossible to work with. It's a pity everyone has jumped on the "poor Kailya, mean French fed" train because it has always been about protecting the health of a great gymnast and not about not letting her compete out of pettiness.

Didn't they want Chirilcenco to coach at their national training center? And he refused to leave his club, which is one of the reason of all that today's mess?
I do believe he's a horrible person, as you say. The videos are simply horrendous. Did Youna even talk publicly about her experience?
But I don't believe the people in the French fed (or whoever is on the warpath with Chirilcenco) are any better. Just look how they are going after gymnasts like Elena Colas.

 

[Ginger]

...in other news, Nemour competed in RomGym Trophy this past weekend and won AA with 56.9, which is higher than anyone but Biles during the trials.
She also won UB, BB and FX and posted higher scores on all three events during EF than she did in AA.
Her bars there were 7.2 D, beam 6.5.

2024 RomGym Trophy Results

Results from the 2024 RomGym Trophy, held from June 28 through June 30 in Bucharest, Romania.

thegymter.net

 

[Kittentoes]

Imagine if she had a DTY?!

 

[Bob]

Imagine if she had a DTY?!

hush your mouth we don't need that risk of injury waiting to happen.

 

[Kittentoes]

Right, sorry.

 

[irichluck21]

So when she makes AA, UB, BB, FX in Paris what then?? LOL
Gonna be cool to see the Algerian flag multiple times.