Ellie Black

Childhood and Family

Ellie Black is one of three children of Katharine and Thomas Black. She has an older sister, Karen, and a younger brother, William. Karen is a competitive figure skater, and William was also a gymnast. He won a gold medal in the men’s vault at the 2016 Canadian National Gymnastics Championships.

Ellie started gymnastics at age six. According to the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation), she was “a very strong child, very energetic, jumping all over the place.” After her first visit to the gymnasium, she had a passion for the sport.

In addition to competing in gymnastics, Ellie also competed in figure skating. However, she dropped that sport at age eight to pursue gymnastics full-time. She started competitive gymnastics at age nine. When she was 12, her interest in gymnastics increased when she watched Olympian David Kikuchi of Truro, Nova Scotia, compete in the men’s individual all-around event and the team event at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing.

Early Athletic Career

In December of 2008, Ellie Black represented the Halifax Alta Gymnastics Club at the junior level at the Elite Canada Artistic Gymnastics Competition. She won a bronze medal in the women’s vault event. A year later, she won a bronze medal again on the vault at the 2009 Elite Canada Artistic Gymnastics Competition.

Black’s first success at the Canadian National Gymnastics Championships came in the junior women event finals in 2010. At age 14, she won gold in the beam and bronze in the vault. At the 2010 Elite Canada, Black competed at the senior level and won a silver medal in the vault. However, before Black competed at the senior level on a regular basis, she faced adversity. She missed most of the 2011 gymnastics season with a dislocated and broken toe, dislocated elbow and broken thumb.

2012 Olympic Summer Games

Ellie Black competed at the 2012 Elite Canada in Mississauga, Ontario. She won the gold medal on the vault and bronze on the balance beam. These results were followed by a gold medal in the vault, silver in the balance beam and silver in the all-around event at the International Gymnix event in Montreal, as well as gold medals in the vault and floor exercise at the Osijek Challenge Cup in Croatia. These podium performances helped Black make the Canadian Olympic team. Canada finished fifth in the women’s team event at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London. It was Canada’s best-ever finish at an Olympic Summer Games.

2013 Summer Universiade

In 2013, Ellie Black represented Canada at the Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia. She won a silver medal in the floor routine and bronze medal in the balance beam. She became the first Canadian woman to medal in artistic gymnastics at the Summer Universiade since Anita Botnen in 1983. In 2013, Black won six medals in World Cup events (including three gold medals on the women’s balance beam, floor and vault) and her first four senior medals at the Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Ottawa.

2014 Commonwealth Games

In 2014, Ellie Black won three medals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. She won gold on the balance beam, silver on the vault and bronze on the floor. Black had further success in Glasgow as she won silver in the all-around event later in the year at a World Cup.

2015 Pan American Games

At the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Ellie Black won five medals: gold in all-around, beam and floor, silver in the team and bronze in the floor. It was the most medals for Canada at the Games. Black was also the first non-American athlete to win gold in the women’s all-around at the Pan American Games since 1983.

2016 Olympic Summer Games

Ellie Black’s fifth-place result in the women’s all-around was the best-ever result for Canada in this event at the Olympic Games.

World Championship Medals

In 2017, Montréal hosted the World Gymnastics Championships. Leading up to it, Black won gold on the balance beam, silver in the team and bronze in the all-around and uneven bars at the 2017 Summer Universiade. On 6 October 2017, Black became the first Canadian ever to win an all-around medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

More Commonwealth and Pan American Gold

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, Ellie Black won gold in the women’s individual all-around and team event as well as silver in the vault.

At the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, Black became the first gymnast ever to defend her individual all-around gold medal at the Pan Am Games. She also won gold in the vault, silver in the team and balance beam and bronze in the uneven bars. Black’s 10 Pan American Games medals are the most ever won by a Canadian gymnast.

At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, Black had her best Olympic result, finishing fourth on the balance beam.

Historic 2022 World Gymnastics Championships

At the 2022 World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool, England, Ellie Black was part of the very first Canadian squad to win a medal in a team event at the World Gymnastics Championships as Canada won bronze. Black also won silver on the balance beam.

At the 2022 World Challenge Cup in Paris, Black became the first gymnast to execute a challenging new release on the high bar, catching it in a mixed L grip with a half-twist, which allows her to rotate toward the low bar. The new release move was named “the Black” in her honour and was added to the gymnastics’ points code.

Honours

In 2018, the 23-year-old Ellie Black was named to the Order of Nova Scotia. She became only the second person under the age of 25 to receive the honour (after Sidney Crosby in 2009).