The presence of Simone Biles, with her relevant career giving visibility to this sport as well as the much-heralded fact of her possibilities of achieving several gold medals in different apparatus, raised the expectation for the apparatus finals of artistic gymnastics (the eight best gymnasts who passed the qualification) in each apparatus, six in men’s (GAM) and four in women’s (GAF) that were disputed in three consecutive days, something that we do not remember either in the World Championships or in the most recent Olympic Games. This decision is not easy to understand, because of the repercussions that it may have on the gymnasts, unless it is of an economic nature. The finals always ended up being held on Saturday and Sunday, never on Monday morning as on this occasion, after the gymnasts had spent more than a week of almost consecutive competitions with little recovery time between them.
Artistic gymnastics is a very demanding, difficult and tough sport due to its numerous competitions (four contests) and the need to continue warming up, training or what is called “touching the apparatus” on the same day of the competition, with the added psychological preparation to be able to face the competition, and the media and environmental pressure. Perhaps this decision to extend the finals to three days has been an added factor to the tiredness or great physical and psychological fatigue that athletes usually suffer at this stage when the end of the Games is reached and an excellent performance without mistakes and in full condition is still expected. This was not the case on the last day, as numerous mistakes were observed on the balance beam and also on the high bar, with gymnasts who were favourites for the top positions being left off the podium.
MOHAMMED BADRA (EFE)
Kaylia Nemour on the uneven bars
Among the most relevant exercises of the final days at GAF, Kaylia Nemour’s exercise undoubtedly stands out, as she performed a much higher difficulty than the rest of the gymnasts (score D, difficulty: 7.20), showing excellent execution with great amplitude and flight.
The case of this gymnast, her coaches, her parents, the club and her entourage deserve special mention. After Nemour suffered very serious knee injuries, she recovered and, under the positive opinion of the club doctor, returned to training, despite the fact that the doctor of the French Gymnastics Federation (FFG) did not give her the go-ahead to start. In addition, the FFG, with the aim of Paris 2024, pressured several gymnasts from this club to concentrate in Paris or Saint Étienne (INSEP, High Performance Centres) and leave their place of origin, family, coaches and club. These centres, as we pointed out some time ago regarding the situation of the GAF in Spain, have their reason for being when the gymnasts in their clubs do not have human resources (professional technicians with adequate training, medical and psychological support or adapted study programme) and materials. The FFG made a mistake, forcing Nemour to apply for Algerian nationality, as her father was from Algeria. Kaylia Nemour participated in World Cup competitions, international tournaments, with surprising results on the uneven bars and also on the balance beam. She gradually improved even more, increasing the difficulty and also polishing her execution; all this until she achieved an excellent execution in the final last Sunday without mistakes, achieving a score of 15.700, two tenths ahead of the Chinese gymnast Qiu Qiyuan who was the other favorite on this apparatus; and thus Nemour won the first GAF gold medal for Algeria.
It is a remarkable fact, due to the originality and great execution of an exercise without pause from one element to the next, each one more difficult than the last, and at the same time, because the gymnast, coaches and club have clearly shown that you can continue training in your club, reaching the top. Although the French women’s team won bronze at the last World Championships in Antwerp in 2023, they finished eleventh at the Olympic Games and therefore have not qualified among the best eight to compete in the final, nor has their best gymnast made it to the final of the 24. It is a tremendous blow and can be considered a great failure for the FFG, as they expected great results from their team and the best individual gymnast at the Olympics. The federation let Nemour escape without believing in the coaches and the gymnast’s possibilities; Perhaps it was a great stroke of luck for her, her coaches, her family and for gymnastics, because she was able to compete in front of her home crowd in Paris, show off an impeccable routine and also qualify as a gymnast in fifth place in the individual all-around final, something very relevant in the Olympic Games.
Simone Biles’ Yurchenko double back flip
It must be stressed again that Biles is the first and only gymnast to perform this double back somersault on the vault platform (an apparatus that was introduced in 2001 and which has a much better response in the repulsion phase than the traditional pommel horse). It has been performed at GAF for quite some time, but Simone Biles has been the first gymnast to perform a double back somersault with great height and confidence. We must mention a precedent, although it is not the same back somersault but a pigeon with a double forward somersault, performed excellently and safely on the landing on the old pommel horse by the Russian gymnast Yelena Produnova in 1997. Simone Biles’s vaults have represented a great evolution in an apparatus that seems somewhat more stagnant in difficulty in GAF than in GAM. In this case, we have seen a great leap, without a doubt.
Rebeca Andrade’s floor exercise
The Brazilian gymnast has performed a great floor exercise, perfectly combining the most difficult acrobatic series (D: 5.90), with excellent execution (E: 8.266) and choreography with rhythm and expression in accordance with the music. This combination in a floor exercise should be the objective for the GAF; that is, a high level of difficulty and correct execution. This was provided by Rebeca Andrade performing her best floor exercise in these Olympics and transmitting her energy and rhythm to the public. On this apparatus, it is worth highlighting the great difficulty of Biles’ acrobatic series (highest level of difficulty of all the gymnasts, 6.90), but she made mistakes by going off the floor twice, penalties that relegated her to second place.
Alice d’Amato’s bar
What can be said about this apparatus? Unfortunately, there were many mistakes, falls and imbalances by several favourite gymnasts such as Biles, Lee, Voinea, Soares… However, Alice d’Amato and Manila Esposito won gold and bronze with very safe and correctly executed exercises, with the silver medal going to China’s Zhou. The two Italian gymnasts demonstrated the great improvement on this apparatus with great confidence and clean execution.
Evolution of GAF
Italy’s model in GAF, with excellent results at the Olympics (second in the team category, Alice d’Amato 4th overall and two gymnasts with a medal on beam), is very striking and should be a structure to imitate at European level. Italy’s great improvement in GAF is the result of correct programming for perhaps two Olympic cycles. The working model of the federation, the technical director, its highly qualified coaches and the work from the clubs and training centres has worked. Despite various misfortunes such as serious injuries (Asia d’Amato and Martina Maggio among others), and also several mistakes in the finals of the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp that led Italy to fifth place, they have achieved more secure performances than their opponents and have only been surpassed by the USA.
In Spain, this sport needs changes, a breath of fresh air and a deep process of renewal. Medium and long-term programming, the process of training and updating technicians must be a pillar for the development of women’s artistic gymnastics with future prospects. The centralized model does not seem to be a clear option, given the experience of France with Nemour, but rather an obsolete model, especially if results are not being achieved. In addition, a technical program with monitoring of gymnasts and adequate training of coaches must be developed in parallel. Motivation, clinics and exchanges of coaches and gymnasts in terms of training, aid to clubs and resources are the foundation for creating a structure that can achieve relevant results at the highest level in the future.
Let us remember that Spain had not qualified for teams for several cycles, with the exception of Tokyo 2021. Now in Paris, three gymnasts have participated individually, without reaching the individual final of the 24 best gymnasts or places in the apparatus final, as the Spaniard Ray Zapata did on the floor, finishing 7th. It is quite clear that a reflection and rethinking of the structure is required. Perhaps the example of Italy will help in this long-awaited renewal.
Elisa Estapé Tous She is a professor of Artistic Gymnastics at the University of León.
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