Ellie Black

Elsabeth Ann "Ellie" Black (born September 8, 1995) is a Canadian artistic gymnast. She is a three-time Olympian, having represented her country at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympic Games. She is the 2017 World all-around silver medalist, making her the first Canadian gymnast to win a world all-around medal, and she led the Canadian women's gymnastics team to a bronze medal in the 2022 World Championships team final, the first world team medal won by a Canadian gymnastics team. She won a silver medal on the balance beam at the 2022 World Championships. She is also the 2018 Commonwealth Games all-around champion, a two-time Pan American Games all-around champion (2015, 2019), and a six-time Canadian national all-around champion (2013-2015, 2017-2019). At the 2020 Olympic Games, Black placed fourth in the balance beam final, the highest placement in the Olympics for a female Canadian gymnast.

Black began competing internationally in 2012 and helped the 2012 Canadian Olympic team qualify for their first Olympic team final where they finished fifth. In 2013, she became the first Canadian female artistic gymnast to win a medal at the Universiade since 1983 by winning a silver medal on the floor exercise and a bronze medal on the balance beam, and she competed at her first World Championships, making the all-around and floor exercise finals. She competed at her first Commonwealth Games in 2014 and won the gold medal on the balance beam. She qualified for the all-around and balance beam finals at the 2014 and 2015 World Championships. She won five medals at the 2015 Pan American Games and was the most decorated Canadian athlete at the Games. At the 2016 Olympic Games, Black finished fifth in the individual all-around final, Canada's best-ever result in the Olympic all-around. She won her first World medal in 2017 and won team and all-around gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2019, she became the first female gymnast to win back-to-back all-around titles at the Pan American Games and became Canada's most decorated gymnast ever at the Pan American Games. She made her third Olympic appearance in 2020 and won two medals at the 2022 World Championships. Black is the most decorated female Canadian gymnast ever.

Early life

Black was born on September 8, 1995, in Halifax, Nova Scotia to parents Thomas and Katharine Black. Her older sister, Karen, competed in figure skating. Her younger brother William also competed in gymnastics and was the 2016 Canadian champion on the vault. She began gymnastics when she was nine years old. Originally, she trained in both gymnastics and figure skating, but she decided to focus only on gymnastics.

Junior career

Black competed at the novice level at the 2008 Canadian Championships where she finished twenty-second in the all-around final. Then in December, she competed at the junior level at Elite Canada and placed sixteenth in the all-around and won the bronze medal on vault.

In December 2009, Black competed at Elite Canada in Oakville, Ontario. She placed tenth in the all-around competition with a score of 49.35 and third on vault with a score of 12.925.

Black competed at the 2010 Canadian Championships in Kamloops, British Columbia. She placed fourteenth in the all-around final with a score of 50.300. In event finals, she placed third on vault scoring 13.950 and first on the balance beam scoring 14.500. Then in December, Black competed at Elite Canada in Gatineau, Quebec. She placed fourteenth in the all-around with a score of 48.950, second on the vault with a score of 13.600, fourth on the balance beam with a score of 12.950, and eighth on the floor exercise with a score of 12.450.

Senior career

Black became age-eligible for senior international competition in 2011, but she missed the entire 2011 season after having surgery for a dislocated and broken toe and then dislocating her elbow.

2012

In February, Black competed at Elite Canada in Mississauga, Canada. She placed ninth in the all-around with a total score of 52.350. In event finals, Black placed first on vault scoring 14.750, third on balance beam scoring 13.550, and seventh on floor scoring 12.600. Then in March, she made her international debut at the International Gymnix held in Montreal. She finished second in the all-around in the Challenge Cup behind Canadian teammate Christine Peng-Peng Lee. Then in the event finals, she won the gold medal on vault and the silver medal on balance beam, and she placed tenth on uneven bars and fourth on floor. At the 2nd AG Meeting, a tri-meet between Canada, Brazil, and South Korea, she won gold medals on both the vault and balance beam and started appearing to be a contender for the 2012 Olympic team. She then competed at the Osijek World Challenge Cup and won her first FIG World Cup medals with gold on both the vault and floor exercise.

In May, Black competed at the Canadian Championships in Regina, Canada. Prior to the competition, she spoke to International Gymnast Magazine about her Olympic goals stating "The positive results from recent competitions are a strong motivator to keep working hard and improve further... Hopefully this will prepare me to have a strong performance at Nationals, which is an important competition for the lympicteam selection". She placed third all-around in qualifications but dropped to seventh in the all-around final with a score of 53.600. In event finals, Black placed first on vault scoring 14.475, seventh on balance beam scoring 12.800, and third on floor scoring 13.950.

At the end of June, Black was one of the twelve gymnasts chosen to compete at the Final Olympic Selection meet in Gatineau, Canada. On the first day of competition she placed sixth in the all-around with a score of 52.050, second on vault, fourth on floor, sixth on beam, and ninth on floor. Based on her performances here and at the Canadian Championships she was selected to the five-member Olympic team alongside Kristina Vaculik, Victoria Moors, Brittany Rogers, and Dominique Pegg. She was the first female gymnast living east of Montreal to ever make the Canadian Olympic team.

In July, Black competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. She helped the Canadian team qualify for the team finals for the first time in a non-boycotted Olympics, and individually, she qualified for the vault final. In the team final, the Canadian team finished fifth, the country's best ever result in an Olympic team final. In the vault final, Black injured her left ankle on her first vault after landing on all fours, receiving a score of 0.000. She tried to attempt her second vault, but decided not to because of the injury, meaning she placed eighth with a final score of 0.000. She did not compete for the rest of the year due to the injury.

2013

Black returned to competition at Elite Canada and won gold medals in the all-around, vault, uneven bars, and balance beam, and she won the silver medal on the floor exercise behind Victoria Moors. She then competed at the Tokyo World Cup and won the all-around bronze medal behind Japanese gymnast Asuka Teramoto and American gymnast Peyton Ernst

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