Ellie Black set to be first Canadian artistic gymnast to compete at four Olympic Games
Ellie Black has carved a legacy for herself in Canadian artistic gymnastics. At 28-years-old, Black is headed to her fourth Olympic Games–a record for a Canadian artistic gymnast.
Black has built for herself a competitive resumé that speaks to her ability to rise to big moments. Over the last 12 years, she has gone from being the fresh-on-the-scene 16-year-old who surprised many when she made her first Olympic team to being a respected leader and a globally recognized icon.
Look at any list of Canadian best ever results and you will see Black’s name all over the place.
In her Olympic debut at London 2012, she helped Team Canada secure its highest ever fifth place finish in the women’s team event while qualifying for the vault final.
At Rio 2016, Black finished fifth in the women’s all-around final, Canada’s best Olympic result in the event. The next year, she became Canada’s first all-around medallist at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, claiming the silver medal.
At Tokyo 2020, she finished fourth in the beam final–the best Olympic result by a Canadian in any women’s artistic gymnastics event–after withdrawing from the all-around final due to an ankle sprain.
In 2022, Black led the Canadian women’s team to bronze at the world championships, marking Canada’s first-ever medal in the team event. In addition to being a historic moment, the result meant that Canada had somewhat unexpectedly qualified a full women’s team for Paris 2024 in their first opportunity.
Black has, over the course of her long career, qualified for each apparatus final at least once at the world championships. Never complacent, she has persevered through several major injuries and has always pushed herself to be better, to the point of being among the world’s best on what was once her weakest apparatus.
