Canada at the Pan Ams: Rising talent in gymnastics

Black at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, performing her gold-winning routine on the balance beam. (Alastair Grant/AP)

Name: Ellie Black
Born: Sept. 8, 1995 in Halifax
Sport: Artistic gymnastics

What’s her story?

Black enters the Pan Am Games as the three-time defending Canadian champion, having claimed her latest national title in May. Women’s artistic gymnastics consists of four events (balance beam, floor, uneven bars and vault) and Black’s bread and butter since her early days has been the vault, though she’s also had strong showings in floor and beam. Her career at the national level began as a junior competitor in 2009 and, by 2012, she was an Olympian.

The 19-year-old has taken a year off from studying kinesiology at her hometown Dalhousie University to focus on the Pan Am Games and qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Best result

Black finished fourth in individual all-around (which refers to a cumulative score from performances in all four events) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, taking gold in the beam. She also placed ninth in individual all-around at the 2014 world championship, which is the best result for a Canadian in the event.

Biggest rival

The Americans are dominant in this sport, having claimed the overall team gold in each of the past three Pan Am Games. To find an overall individual winner who didn’t come from the U.S., you have to go all the way back to 1983. The five young women who will comprise Team USA in 2015 are Madison Desch, Rachel Gowey, Amelia Hundley, Emily Schild and Megan Skaggs. The Brazilians also tend to be very strong in this event and Venezuela’s Jessica Lopez finished eighth at the 2014 World Championship, one spot ahead of Black.

Here’s an interesting fact

At the age of 16, Black came out of nowhere to earn the final spot on Canada’s 2012 Olympic team for the London Games. While Black endured some personal hardship when she injured her ankle on a vault attempt and was forced out of the competition, the work she did prior to that helped Canada to a best-ever fifth-place finish.

Prediction

Black has a great chance to get on the podium in Toronto.

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