Far from home, she has had to fight the stereotypes that come with a Muslim who performs in a leotard while representing a Muslim country. At the 2007 European championships in Amsterdam, “one of the German coaches came over and asked if she can really wear a leotard, in Turkey, at 17,” her longtime coach, Mergul Guler, said. “They thought she was running around training in a head scarf.”

But during a light pre-Olympic workout, Uctas was in the traditional leotard and shorts, showing off her lean, balletic frame.

Guler said Uctas has the one trait that cannot be taught, one that will help her battle the pressure in London.

“She knows how to compete,” Guler said. “When I see her attitude before an event, I already know how she’ll do.”

The night before a competition, “I talk with God,” Uctas said. “I ask him to help me.”

Despite her current serenity, the road to London was rocky.

Uctas said she “fell in love” with gymnastics at age 5, when her family lived in the southeast city of Gaziantep. At 9, they were forced from their home by an earthquake that struck northwest Turkey. They spent a year living in a crowded refugee camp, where she practiced simple moves — headstands and flips — outside the tents.

Afterward, she moved to Bolu to train under Guler, the head coach at the Genclik Merkezi club. (Uctas’s training is subsidized by the Turkish government.)