Have we seen the last of Ellie Black in Olympic competition? Maybe not

‘For right now it’s a little bit of a rest, but I’m not ready to be done with the sport just yet’

Vernon Ramesar · CBC News

After competing in her fourth Olympics, Nova Scotian gymnast Ellie Black says she hasn’t determined if a fifth Olympics is in her future. But she hasn’t ruled it out.

The 28-year-old from Halifax finished sixth in the individual all-around competition and sixth in the vault final in Paris. The Canadian women finished fifth in the team event.

Reached after her competition ended on Saturday, Black said she will take some time to figure out her next move.

“As long as I’m loving what I’m doing and my body can still handle it and I have goals that I want to achieve, I’m going to continue doing gymnastics,” Black said.

“For right now it’s a little bit of a rest, but I’m not ready to be done with the sport just yet.”

Phenomenal experience

Black said her experiences in Paris have been phenomenal, especially compared to the last Olympics.  There were no family and friends in the audience in Tokyo in 2021 due to COVID restrictions.

One of her goals this time around was to show the results of her training and to perform in the top group of women, she said.

She said she was proud to have been a leader and teammate and get the Canadian women back to the finals.

Black said she is motivated to inspire the next generation in the sport, but also to break down barriers around longevity and age in the sport. She will be 32 when the next summer Olympics are held in Los Angeles in 2028.

“I’m competitive with myself,” she said. “I always want to try and be the best person I can be, the best gymnast I can be, to push myself, see what I’m able to achieve and help Canada climb those ranks in gymnastics.”

Canadian gymnasts are introduced prior to the women’s team final on Tuesday in Paris. From left are Black, Cassie Lee, Ava Stewart, Shallon Olsen and Aurelie Tran. (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

She said getting older in the sport means not necessarily being able to do the same number of repetitions or the same number of competitions that were once possible. She said recovery takes longer.

But she said she knows her capabilities and can adapt her programs to stay in the game. It just takes a bit more effort, she said.

Asked how she managed to have such a strong recovery after a fall on the beam in the individual all-around competition, Black said performing at the highest level in gymnastics means sometimes taking risks. She needed the higher degree of difficulty to keep pace with the top medal contenders.

She said she wouldn’t give up when when she slipped, pushing ahead to show the hard work she had put in.

Proud to be a Nova Scotian

Black said the support she receives from home makes her proud to be from Halifax and Nova Scotia.

Black is shown at a media event in Montreal in 2023. (The Canadian Press)

She said she’s proud to be the only female gymnast from the province to go to the Olympic Games.

“I still live and train there,” she said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, if you have a dream and a goal and you work hard and you’ve got that support around you, you can make it happen.”

Black said she will stay in Paris for the closing ceremonies. She’ll take a vacation afterward.

“And then after that, yeah, probably spending some time figuring out my next moves,” she said.