Halifax gymnast Ellie Black receives warm welcome from hometown crowd
CTV News - Canada’s top female gymnast touched down in Halifax Friday morning to a warm welcome from her many fans.
Ellie Black, who won fifth place at the summer games, remained humble with her Canadian record finish.
“I’m so proud that I could be in Rio representing Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Canada,” says Black.
Her success has gymnasts at her home club dreaming big.
“She’s really good and I want to be like her when I’m older,” says fan Amy Gardner.
“It’s incredible just to see how excited they are and how hard they work at the gym,” says Black. “For someone to want to be like you, it’s so humbling.”
For the young gymnasts who get to train alongside their idol, Rio was nothing short of inspiring.
“I thought it was really cool, because I always see her at the gym, and now I’m seeing her on TV,” says gymnast Chloe Warme.
“She’s such a good role model and she’s so accommodating with the little ones too,” says Chloe’s mother, Jill Warme. “I really appreciate that as a mom.”
The Canadians faced some adversity in Rio, missing out on the team final.
“Going in, our main focus was the team competition, and we actually did very well,” says Black. “We had a couple of unexpected mistakes.”
Black’s individual fifth place finish in the all-around competition was the best-ever finish by a Canadian woman.
Coaches at her home club are in awe of not only her performance, but her perseverance.
“She’s always been a great competitor, that’s something I really admire about her,” says Gymnastics Coach Vaughn Arthur. “She’s really figured out the whole mental side of the sport.”
After a busy week in Rio, Black says, “I’m ready to go home and take a nap.”
It will be some well-deserved downtime for the gymnast, before heading back to the gym to train and coach - continuing to inspire.
“Canada is a force to be reckoned with, and you know, we’ve just got to keep working hard,” says Black.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Sarah Ritchie