All eyes are on gymnastics at the 2024 Olympics, and once again, many of the traditional powerhouses are looking to earn medals on the women’s side of the competition.

Athletes from the United States, China, Japan, Brazil and Italy have taken Olympic gymnastics by storm. Team USA took the team medal with ease, but the individual competitions are expected to be closer, with top-tier talents including Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Rebeca Andrade, Alice D’Amato and more expected to be among those in medal contention.

Also included among the top contenders is Kaylia Nemour. The Algerian gymnast is an elite force on the uneven bars. After she qualified in fourth place for the all-around, many wondered whether she would be able to earn an unprecedented gymnastics medal for Africa.

Yet Nemour’s plan wasn’t always to represent Algeria. Originally, she planned to represent her home country of France at the Paris Games.

Instead, Nemour ended up switching allegiances to compete at the 2024 Olympics. Here’s what to know about her decision as she battles for medals in Paris.

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Who is Kaylia Nemour?

Nemour is a 17-year-old gymnast who is representing Algeria at the 2024 Olympics. She qualified in fourth-place for the all-around final — and in first place on the uneven bars — to give her a chance to win Africa its first-ever medal in women’s gymnastics.

Nemour was born and raised in France and competed for the French Gymnastics Federation for four years, from 2017 to 2021. She switched flags in 2022 and chose to represent Algeria, all because of a saga that began with a dispute over where the Olympic hopeful would train.

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Why did Kaylia Nemour leave France?

Nemour wanted to train at Avoine Beaumont Gymnastique, a gym within a mile of her home in France. But the French Gymnastics Federation introduced new training guidelines that required gymnasts to train full-time in one of two locations: Vincennes, a suburb of Paris, or in St.-Etienne, in southeastern France, per the New York Times.

The goal of this requirement was to allow the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance to oversee training.

Nemour said that leaving her home gym — and hometown — “wasn’t even an option.”

“I’ve been here pretty much since I was born,” she told the New York Times. “My home is within walking distance from the gym. I’m really happy with my coaches. Why would I leave?”

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It wasn’t just a location issue, though. The French Gymnastics Federation also accused Nemour’s coaches — Marc and Gina Chirilcenco — of overtraining Nemour after the gymnast was diagnosed with advanced osteochondritis in 2021.

Nemour was adamant that her condition — an inflammation related to repeated stress on a joint — had nothing to do with her training. The federation wouldn’t clear her to return in 2022, despite her personal doctors saying she was healthy enough to resume training.

The French federation also went after the Chirilcencos. They had regional authorities investigate if the couple had “excessive influence over minor athletes and endangerment of them,” per the New York Times; the Chirilencos were cleared as a result of the investigation.

While this was going on, Nemour looked for a chance to compete at the national level. Algeria, where her father had a passport after having been born there, emerged as a landing spot for her.

Nemour had to secure her release from the French federation to compete for Algeria. The process was drawn out, but eventually, France released Nemour and gave her the freedom to compete for Algeria.

Now she is looking to bring the first-ever Olympic medal in gymnastics to the continent of Africa.