Halifax gymnast Ellie Black wins Olympic sportsmanship award

Fair Play Award honours extraordinary acts of sporting spirit during the Olympic Games

Aly Thomson, Anjuli Patil · CBC News ·

Halifax gymnast Ellie Black says she feels honoured after winning an Olympic award that recognizes athletes who exemplify sportsmanship, the spirit of fair play and respect for others.

The International Fair Play Committee and the International Olympic Committee announced Wednesday that Black was the recipient of the Paris 2024 Fair Play Award.

“I think it’s just truly incredible and I’m incredibly honoured,” the four-time Olympian told CBC News in an interview Wednesday, just after a training session in her hometown.

“I think it really shows what the true meaning of sport is in the Olympics and bringing people together and the sportsmanship, really looking out for everyone as an individual, as a human being first.”

Black was at the Alta Gymnastics club in Halifax on Wednesday when she found out she was getting the award.

“One of the other athletes in the gym, he had seen it online and I didn’t have my phone on me so I hadn’t gotten any calls or seen any notifications or anything and I thought he was kind of joking,” Black said.

“So that was special just to find out and be here with the team and the athletes training and the coaches and just to be able to soak up that moment here at home in Halifax was truly incredible.”

Athletes and fans submitted nominations for the award on social media and a jury with representatives from the IOC and the International Fair Play Committee then selected a shortlist of finalists. The final decision was made by public vote, which garnered tens of thousands of responses.

“We are thrilled to see Ellie Black receive this well-deserved recognition,” said Jeno Kamuti, president of the fair play committee. “Her example serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of sportsmanship and respect in competition.”

Ellie Black finished sixth in the individual all-around competition and sixth in the vault final in Paris. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The Olympic website notes Black’s sportsmanship was on full display at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, when she led the Canadian team to a fifth-place finish and placed sixth in the individual all-around competition.

But it was an emotional interaction with a gymnast from the host country that garnered the world’s attention.

The French team struggled through the competition, with star Melanie de Jesus dos Santos suffering falls in each of her three opening routines, the website said. De Jesus dos Santos and Team France did not advance to any medal round.

“After competition, Black and Canadian teammate Shallon Olsen were seen comforting de Jesus dos Santos, wiping away her tears and offering extended hugs and words of encouragement, reminding people around the world of the power of the Olympic Games to unite others from across the globe,” wrote Scott Bregman for Olympics.com.

Thinking back to the moment, which was captured on a cellphone video and shared widely on social media, Black said she approached de Jesus dos Santos to make her feel better after a difficult day.

Black said she’s competed with the French gymnast over the years and that she’s a friend. She said they were both on Simone Biles’s Gold Over America Tour in 2021 after the Tokyo Olympic Games and they’ve stayed in touch. Black said de Jesus dos Santos is “an incredible person and athlete.”

“I just wanted to go over and comfort her and just remind her that it’s not her gymnastics, it’s who she is as a person … having an off-day or results, they don’t define who you are. They don’t define what you’ve done, what you’ve brought to sport, what you’ve brought to all these people,” she said.

“All the spectators there were to cheer her on, to cheer France on no matter what. Even after she fell, they were chanting her name.”

Black said gymnasts, no matter where they’re from, can relate to the pressure.

“It can be really tough. You experience the highest of highs and the lowest lows. And so I was just happy that we could give her some support just so she didn’t feel like she was alone.”

Heading into her fourth Olympics at Paris 2024, Ellie Black shares her career journey.

Black documented much of her Olympic experience on her Instagram account, creating fun and humorous videos with her fellow athletes but also laying bare the hardships that can sometimes come with competition.

“I write this to all of the athletes who made it to the Olympics and those that didn’t. Those who won and lost, had personal success or felt they fell short of their dreams and their work. I hope you know that you yourself are enough,” she wrote.

“Who you are, what you bring to sport, being a role model for so many, being your unique authentic self — that is so much more than enough.”

The other finalists for the Fair Play Award were World Rowing president Jean-Christophe Rolland, fencer Csanad Gemsi of Hungary, cyclists Fariba Hashimi of Afghanistan and Hanna Tserakh of Belarus, and German chef de mission Olaf Tabor.

Black said she vacationed in Italy with friends after the Paris Olympics. She’s been busy training since returning to Halifax and said she’ll head out on the Gold Over America Tour when it begins next month in the U.S.