image source, Reuters
Comment on the picture, Killia tigers
- author, Amr Fikry
- role, BBC Correspondent – Paris
-
2 hours ago
When the young player, Kilia Nammour, suffered an injury that required long treatment, from which she returned from a one-year suspension, she did not know that it would turn her life upside down, and that she would be months get away from making history. .
Namour was born in France to a French mother and a father who had Algerian parents. She has French and Algerian nationalities, and started gymnastics with her sister when she was four years old.
When she was eleven years old, her talent began to emerge, and she began to participate in foreign competitions with her club, Afwan, before joining the gymnastics team of France who participated in the Mediterranean Championships when she was twelve years old in 2019, in which she helped France to come third as a team.
Namour’s talent began to develop and surpass former professional players while she was still young, and she helped France and her club, Afouane, to win many titles, until 2021 came when she was still at youth level, and she began to suffer from inflammation of the bones and joints, and she had to undergo two knee surgeries. She is still fourteen years old.
Nemour spent eight months away from the field until she returned to training in March 2022, hoping to fulfill her dream of representing France at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but things began to change for her.
Although her personal doctor and coach at the club agreed that she should return to training, the French national team doctor did not want to do so, and the French Athletics Federation wanted her to leave her club there the Afouane and training in the capital, Paris, under their guidance, which the player refused.
As a result, and because of the intransigence of the French Federation towards it, Nemour decided to change his nationality and represent Algeria, to apply to the International Athletics Federation, which approved the nationality her change to Algerian permission from the Federation of the country of origin, or stay for a whole year without participating in International competitions, subject to the instructions of the International Athletics Federation before representing the new country.
The French Athletics Federation rejected Nammour’s request and was foolish to allow her to represent Algeria internationally, deciding to stay for an extra year without participating in official international competitions. national, such as the World Championships and the African Championships.
During the hiatus, which started in July 2022, Kilia Nemmour was not able to participate in the African Championships, but she participated with Algeria in the Arab Championships, which was not an official competition under the supervision of the Energy Federation -International athletics, and she helped Algeria to win. team gold.
Tigers has reached the age of sixteen and is officially qualified to participate in adult competitions. Her chances of participating in the Olympics would be diminished if she did not participate in the World Championships, and so the qualifying rounds for it, that is the African Championships.
The year between her representation in France and her representation of Algeria will end in July 2023, two months after the African Championships, and Namour’s story reached fans and athletics fans around the world, energy -actors and coaches, and a petition or petition distributed with thousands of signatures asking the president of the French Athletics Federation to leave Namour for Algeria.
With public pressure, the case was discussed on a television program, in which six French gymnasts spoke about the abuse that the French Gymnastics Federation had done to them. After this presentation, the French Minister of Sports and Olympics opened an investigation, which caused Nemour to be released, so that she could finally participate with Algeria in the world and Olympic qualifications, two months before the end of the year.
image source, EPA
Comment on the picture, Algerian gold medalist Kilia Nemmour on the podium at Bercy Arena in Paris
Namour was able to win the African Championship, through which she qualified for the World Championship, in which she qualified for the final, so that she could qualify for the Olympics, and after a year great for the young player who had not yet arrived. At the age of seventeen, she was chosen as the best athlete in Algeria for the year 2023, after two consecutive years of winning Boxing Iman Khalif winning the award.
Namour won several medals with Algeria in a short time, until she arrived at the Olympics in Paris full of Algerian hope, and in the individual competitions in general she was in fifth place, the highest position which an African athlete has achieved in the Olympics. , before competing in the uneven bars finals, in which the athlete excelled.
Before competing, Tigers watched Chinese player Zhou Quan, the 2023 world champion, perform amazingly and score 15,500 points to top the standings. and the fans present in the stands, most of them French, cheered for her after she achieved 15,700, going to the top of the rankings and winning gold afterwards.
Nammour was able to win a historic gold medal, becoming the first Algerian, African and Arab athlete to win an Olympic medal in athletics at the Olympics, the first gold medal for Algeria since the London 2012 Olympics, and the Algerian’s sixth Olympic gold medal. history
Tigers said after the gold: “I watched Quan’s performance and I had to focus more and do my best because of years of intense training. It’s an amazing time for us and I want to thank everyone. “
Nammour spoke about the fans and winning the gold in Paris, saying: “Playing in Paris is very special my performance, because we work together, and my individual performance is also part of work -team, they push me to be better and better during our training and competitions, and now I’m excited to be back at the club to have fun with them.”
Regarding taking part in the Olympics, she said: “It’s a good start for me in the Olympics, and now I have to go on holiday before I start training a -again for another four years all the situations in my head have been through a lot in the past year and a half. I dreamed of this.”
She ended her speech with a message to the Algerians, saying: “I would like to thank the Algerians again for their full support, because it is this support that helped me to win One to Three FIFA La Algerie!
image source, Reuters
Comment on the picture, Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Women’s Uneven Bar Final – Bercy Arena, Paris, France – August 4, 2024.
In exclusive statements to the BBC, Khairuddin Berbari, head of the Algerian delegation to the Paris 2024 Olympics, said: “This coronation is historic, and it reflects the sacrifices and aspirations of all people. and the Algerian state has placed great potential within the framework of the Olympic preparation program, and there was “Expectation, not goals. We achieved half the goal in boxing through the champion Iman Khalif. We won a gold medal in athletics, and we also aimed for the third medal in athletics.”
He said: “The preparation program started immediately after the Olympics in Tokyo, especially because Algeria, in the midst of the Corona epidemic situation, there was a change in the preparation, which led to a disappointing participation with zero medals as athletes, coaches, and federations to raise the national flag here in Paris. national anthem here in Paris.”
Regarding Killia Nammour’s victory in the gold medal, he says: “We were determined that Killia would win the gold, because in the qualifications and at the end of the general singles we noticed that the champion was very good in the specialty this, and the competition was strong. with the Chinese player, the world champion, but we are not surprised, but because of her work.
The Algerian Olympic Committee described Namour on its Facebook page as a legend, and the President of the Algerian Republic thanked her, and social media was filled with words of praise and admiration for the young Algerian player, which was unexpected a year ago , after that. she had suffered a long injury and then a longer suspension, that she would return quickly and enter the arena in Arab and African history in the Olympics.
2024-08-04 21:55:59
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