Kaylia Nemour Posts World-Leading All-Around Score to Sweep 2026 Mediterranean Games

The 2026 Mediterranean Games in Taranto, Italy, just wrapped up, and Algerian sensation Kaylia Nemour did not just win the competition—she set the global high score for the entire year. Competing at the Grottaglie Sports Hall on September 1, the 19-year-old Olympic champion posted a massive 57.750 in the women's all-around final. That number eclipses American Hezly Rivera's previous world-leading mark of 56.950, which was set during the U.S. Championships in August.[3][5]

Nemour's margin of victory in Taranto was staggering. She finished nearly five full points—4.900, to be exact—ahead of Spain's Alba Petisco, who took the silver medal with a 52.850. Italy's Sofia Tonelli rounded out the podium in third place with a 51.650. The gap between first and second place underscored a performance that analysts are calling one of the most dominant in recent Mediterranean Games history.[2]

The Algerian star was near-perfect across all four rotations. She opened the competition with a 13.800 on her double-twisting Yurchenko vault, setting a strong pace early. She then moved to her signature event, the uneven bars, where a recently retooled routine earned a massive 15.650 off a 7.1 difficulty value. That routine alone cemented her lead, but she did not let up on the back half of the competition.[2]

Nemour followed her bars routine with a 14.700 on the balance beam, executing a flawless layout series and a clean double pike dismount. She closed out the all-around title on the floor exercise with a 13.600, tumbling a double layout and a front through to a double pike. The combined effort shattered her personal best score in all-around competition.[1][2]

"I'm very happy with what I was able to do today, which allowed me to win this medal," Nemour said following the event. She thanked Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune for his support and dedicated her victory to the Algerian people. "It's thanks to them that I am able to do what I do on a daily basis."[1]

Beyond her individual brilliance, Nemour anchored Algeria to a historic team bronze—their first-ever women's team medal at the Mediterranean Games. She also returned the following day to sweep the individual apparatus titles on the uneven bars with a 15.500 and the balance beam with a 13.300, bringing her gold medal count to three for the week.[1][4][6]

The host nation also found plenty of reasons to celebrate in Taranto. Italy captured the women's team gold, fueled heavily by a breakout performance from 17-year-old Benedetta Gava. Armed with her own booming double-twisting Yurchenko vault and springy tumbling passes, Gava split the remaining apparatus titles with Nemour.[1][6]

Gava took gold on the vault with a 13.675 average and won the floor exercise title with a 13.300. Combined with the team title, the Italian teenager walked away with three gold medals, matching Nemour's haul and establishing herself as a rising star for the Italian program.[1][6]

On the men's side, Cyprus's Marios Georgiou captured his second Mediterranean Games all-around crown. The 29-year-old absorbed an early fall on the floor exercise but remained composed to earn an 80.450 total. That score put him exactly one point ahead of silver medalist Nicolau Mir of Spain (79.450), while Egypt's Omar Mohamed claimed bronze with a 79.050.[1][7]

Georgiou added a gold medal on the horizontal bar (14.200) and a silver on the parallel bars during the apparatus finals. Meanwhile, Greece's Antonios Tantalidis took the men's floor exercise title with a 13.700, and Türkiye's Mehmet Ayberk Kosak won the still rings with a 14.250.[1][6]

With the 54th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam looming in October, Nemour has officially put the rest of the field on notice. Her 57.750 all-around total firmly establishes her as the gymnast to beat, proving she has evolved from an uneven bars specialist into a comprehensive global threat.[3]