Before she won Algeria its first gymnastics gold, Kaylia Nemour faced a number of different challenges. The gymnastics star, who spent years competing at Avoine-Beaumont in France, had publicly revealed that she felt manipulated, stressed, and emotionally exhausted there, leading to her decision to represent Algeria over France. But even after leaving Avoine-Bemont to train in Dijon, it wasn’t easy to process the whole experience, though she’s now found a way.

To do that, Nemour turned to writing. In December 2025, she published L’ombre de l’or (Alisio), a deeply personal memoir. “Writing my book helped me move forward. Like a diary or therapy. It lifted a weight off my head and body,” she revealed.

“For a long time, I thought what I was experiencing in Avoine was normal. When I realized it wasn’t and started speaking out, people called me a liar, a cheat, a gold digger on social media. It was starting to eat away at me,” she added. “Today, I’m very fulfilled, I’m making plans, discovering new things, and I want to learn to experience the world differently.”

Nemour’s decision to leave her longtime gymnastics club, Avoine‑Beaumont, in May 2025 came after years of emotional strain and difficult training experiences. She described an environment that wasn’t conducive for proper training.

“Gymnastics is about discipline and repetition. But it’s not about shouting, humiliation, or tears,” she said. The Olympic gold medalist added that for a long time, she thought the harsh treatment was normal: “I cried every day, I had a knot in my stomach, I was stressed. But at 10 years old, I didn’t realize it. It was all I had ever known.”

She also spoke about feeling controlled by her former coaches, Marc and Gina Chirilcenco: “We were so under their control. When you’re there, you don’t know, you don’t see.”

Since leaving Avoine for Dijon and under the guidance of her new coach Nadia Masse, Nemour has evolved, winning gold on the uneven bars, as well as silver on the balance beam, at the World Championships in Jakarta in October last year.

“Okay, I succeeded (with my former coaches), but that doesn’t mean it’s the right method,” she said. “Now, with Nadia Masse, it’s working out. I won this incredible world title and this extraordinary medal on the balance beam.”

Even now, Nemour admits that some old patterns are hard to shake. “It’s still difficult to shake off the mindset I grew up with. I still feel the pressure of others’ opinions, the fear of disappointing them. In competition, I’m learning to enjoy myself, to be more relaxed, to open up, and to be proud of myself.”

But her problems were not just personal; her relations with the French Gymnastics Federation were also fraught.

Kaylia Nemour navigated dual citizenship to keep her Olympic gymnastics dream alive

Kaylia Nemour was born in France to a French mother and an Algerian father, and as such, she holds dual French and Algerian citizenship. Having lived and trained in France her whole life, becoming one of the top young gymnasts in the country, she initially represented France.

In 2021, when Nemour was 14, she developed a joint condition (osteochondritis) in her knees and needed double knee surgery. Her personal doctor cleared her to work back toward competition after rehab. However, the French national team doctor, who had never examined her personally, refused to clear her for competition, despite her surgeon’s approval.

At the same time, the French Gymnastics Federation wanted her to leave her hometown club and train under its central program near Paris, a move she didn’t want to make. The combination of issues meant her progression with the French national team had stopped. She could not compete internationally, and time was running out for Olympic qualification.

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Since her father and paternal grandparents were Algerian, she could legally represent Algeria in sport. She and her family began the nationality change process so she could compete internationally again. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) confirmed her change in July 2022, but as the French federation did not agree at first, she would have had to wait one year before competing for Algeria in events under the auspices of the FIG.

This would mean that she would not be able to compete at the African Championships and World Championships, which were the main qualifying events for the Olympics. At one stage, it seemed she may be prevented from even qualifying for the Olympics due to the French federation refusing to release her.

The matter reached the French minister for sport, who then intervened and pushed the French federation to allow her to represent Algeria sooner than the one‑year delay. That intervention allowed her to compete at the African Championships in 2023 and later earn a World Championships Olympic spot.

Since then, Nemour has competed for Algeria internationally while still living and training in France. She won silver on uneven bars at the 2023 World Championships, becoming the first gymnast representing an African nation to medal at Worlds. At the Paris Olympics, she won gold on uneven bars for Algeria, making history again.

Today, Kaylia Nemour is not just an Olympic champion; she is a young athlete defining her career on her own terms.