Hello everyone, and welcome to Gymnastics Insider!
Much has happened this week (scroll down to get straight to it), but I want to start with Kaylia Nemour, who debuted a third bars skill last week at the African Championships (full results).
Nemour cleaned up there, winning the all-around by more than six points (56.498), and winning bars, beam and floor. Her bar routine at qualifications was a highlight, earning a 15.566 with a 6.9 D score.
But it’s her event finals routine that’s making the rounds. Clearly, Nemour didn’t get the memo that she won her last worlds by over a point and there’s no need to keep upgrading. Yet upgrade she does.
She led her EF routine with an inbar laid out tkatchev half — an inbar Nabieva half, if you will. We could also call it a Nemour half, as she debuted the inbar laid out tkatchev at the 2023 African Championships. This new skill will be the Nemour III (the Nemour II is an inbar straddled tkatchev half introduced at this year’s Cottbus World Cup).
She also upgraded her dismount to a full-twisting double layout. Sadly, she landed short and stumbled forward a bit, but still earned a 14.400 to take the gold.
Why is she messing with perfection, you ask? I went ahead and D-scored Nemour’s bar routine over the past couple of years to track her steps. She’s done approximately three million competitions during that time, so I’ve narrowed down to a few key moments in her senior career.
The results weren’t all that surprising. Nemour’s intended D score has largely stayed the same, but she’s shifted skills around a bit. For the sake of this exercise, just assume she’s earned the 2.0 CR and .2 dismount bonus.
2024 Paris Olympic Games
Nemour earned her highest score ever at these event finals — a 15.7 — and won gold, the first gymnastics medal for an African nation. Her routine had 10 skills (I’m not counting giants, kips, etc.), and eight of them were connected.
Inbar full (E) + Nemour (G) + pak (D) + inbar maloney (Komova II)(E) + stalder full (D) + stalder straddled tkatchev half (Derwael/Fenton)(E) + ezhova (D) + stalder shaposh half (E); toe full (D) + DLO (D)
Skills: 3.9
Connections: 1.1
Total: 7.2
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
2025 World Championships
Nemour largely kept things the same for the 2025 world championships, understandable considering the code didn’t change very much between quads. She ditched the inbar going into the shaposh, losing a tenth. She won the event final with a 15.566.
Inbar full (E) + Nemour (G) + pak (D) + maloney (D) + stalder full (D) + stalder straddled tkatchev half (Derwael/Fenton)(E) + ezhova (D) + stalder shaposh half (E); toe full (D) + DLO (D)
Skills: 3.8
Connections: 1.1
Total: 7.1
2026 World Cup Circuit (Cottbus, Baku, Cairo)
For the 2026 season, Nemour added a Downie and ditched the Nemour, losing 0.1 in difficulty compared to 2025 worlds. She upgraded her Derwael/Fenton to an inbar (making it a Nemour II), though this didn’t change her score at all, as they’re both E skills.
She wasn’t always awarded full difficulty at these competitions due to errors, but this is the intended routine:
Inbar full (E) + inbar straddled tkatchev half (Nemour II)(E) + ezhova (D) + maloney (D) + stalder full (D) + Downie (F) + pak (D) + stalder shaposh half (E); toe full (D) + DLO (D)
Skills: 3.7
Connections: 1.1
Total: 7.0
2026 African Championships
Nemour’s all-around/qualifications routine was the same as the one she used for the world cup circuit, minus the toe full at the end. Once she had secured her worlds spot, she was free to go a little crazy in event finals, and that she did.
This routine earned a 14.400. Note that we don’t have access to D scores, so I wasn’t able to check my math here.
Inbar laid out tkatchev half (Nemour III)(G?) + Ezhova (D) + maloney (D) + stalder full (D) + Downie (F) + pak (D) + stalder shaposh half (E); FTDLO (F)
Skills: 4.0
Connections: 1.0
Total: 7.2
Basically, she’s streamlined her routine to maximize difficulty while doing fewer skills. By reducing her number of skills from 10 to eight, she loses the 0.1 connection bonus she got from the toe full into her dismount.
But with the upgrade to a Nemour III, along with the full twist added to her dismount, that gives her an extra 0.3. The FTDLO was increased from an E this quad, so that makes sense. As I already mentioned, she stumbled on the landing there, so I assume the shorter routine is meant to preserve her energy for the big finish.
Will we see this routine at worlds? Who knows. Maybe she wants to save that event to debut her double-twisting Nabieva, triple-twisting pak and quadruple layout. Time will tell.
Elite news
Jade Carey announced her elite comeback in a dramatic Instagram video. This is great news; now if only I could get past how she holds a pen.
Simone Biles’ comeback, meanwhile, is still up in the air. She’s in a time crunch to decide whether to go for 2028, but according to her, it will all come down to her mental health.
The Varna Challenge Cup will be held May 7-10. Abigail Martin of Great Britain, Marta Pihan-Kulesza of Poland, and Adelina Ionescu are on the nominative roster. The competition will air on World Gymnastics TV.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
Russian Cup
The Russian Cup happened (full results).
Anna Kalmykova won the all-around with a 55.632 finals score, as well as the vault and beam titles, bars silver and floor bronze. Kalmykova is already in her third year as a senior athlete but she’s been under the radar due to the ban on Russian athletes in international competitions. She went to worlds last year but didn’t stand out, finishing sixth in the vault final.
This year, she thrived in the world cup series on vault and floor. I look forward to seeing what she can do this season now that she’s gotten her feet wet.
Similarly, Viktoria Listunova hasn’t been seen internationally since the 2020 Olympics, but she’s still competing in national events, with a bar routine that won gold here with a 14.700. That orphan half turn kills me each and every time.
NCAA news
Jordyn Wieber resigned as Arkansas’ head coach; Chris Brooks will replace her. Wieber says she wants to focus more on her family, igniting a spirited debate over why women do what we do.
On a related note, Joscelyn Roberson is in the transfer portal, with two years of eligibility left. Let the speculation begin! Here is the transfer log.
More coach news: Nicole Jones is now the head coach at Nebraska. Follow Greg Marsden on Bluesky for updates on coaching changes.
Chae Campbell spoke on Gymcastic Live about allegations of racism from coaches during her time at UCLA. Clearly, there’s some tension over this situation within that cohort of alums, as Margzetta Frazier commented on the post, saying “Standing up for you @chae.jada almost ruined my career.”
Five at the IX
Jordan Chiles spoke to USA Today about her career at UCLA and some iced tea brand that she now reps. She wouldn’t say for sure if she’s going for 2028, but says she’s taking a break.
Mondays: Soccer
By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer
Tuesdays: Tennis
By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer
Wednesdays: Basketball
By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The IX Sports
Thursdays: Golf
By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX Sports
Fridays: Hockey
By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden
Saturdays: Gymnastics
By: Jessica Taylor Price, @jesstaylorprice, Freelance Writer