Born on September 8, 1995, Canadian gymnast Ellie Black has always been on the cusp of winning an Olympic medal. Throughout her four Summer Olympics appearances, the 29-year-old has come excruciatingly close to winning a coveted Olympic medal. However, every time she fell just short of making it to the podium.

However, if you believe not winning an Olympic medal despite competing in four editions of the Summer Games makes Black an ordinary gymnast, you’d be wrong. The Halifax, Nova Scotia native is a trailblazer who has helped Team Canada place among the top five twice. She has also placed higher than any Canadian gymnast in Olympic history. So here’s what you need to know about the underrated Canadian legend.

Meet Ellie Black’s family

‘Ellie’ aka Elisabeth Ann Black is one of three children born to Katharine and Thomas Black. While not much is known about her parents’ professions, she is their middle child. The gymnastics icon’s older sister Karen Black and younger brother William Black grew up loving sports. As the middle child, the Olympian was influenced to pick up figure skating by her sister, while influencing her younger brother to delve into gymnastics.

While Ellie Black may have picked up figure skating from Karen, her love of gymnastics was deeply personal. By the time she turned nine, Black was determined to stick to gymnastics and even started competing in regional contests. Just as Karen had influenced her sister to choose figure skating, Ellie Black’s gymnastics skills drew her younger brother William to the sport.

And just like that, the Blacks realized that there were three athletes in the family. William Black didn’t outgrow his love for the sport like his elder sister had outgrown figure skating. Instead, the two siblings continued to perfect their skills, with William earning gold at the 2016 Canadian National Gymnastics Championships. Interestingly, Black’s brother excels in vault, the same skill that earned her first gold medal at the national level.

All about the Canadian athlete’s journey to the Olympics

Simone Biles and Ellie Black share an uncanny similarity in how they started off with gymnastics. “Someone suggested [gymnastics] to my dad because I was a very strong child, very energetic, jumping all over the place,” Black told the FIG. So just like Ronald and Nellie Biles took six-year-old Simone Biles to a local gymnasium, Thomas Black did the same for his six-year-old daughter.

However, it was a fellow Nova Scotia native, David Kikuchi, who truly inspired Black to delve into competitive gymnastics. Kikuchi represented Canada in the individual all-around finals at Beijing 2008. However, little did either athlete know that Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Famer would become Ellie Black’s coach.

At 5’2″ (157 cm), the Canadian is built like an elite-level gymnast. Although she’s not quite as short as 4’9″ Simone Biles, the veteran athlete isn’t in the league of Marie-Sophie Hindermann. At 5’7″, Hindermann was among the East gymnasts to ever compete in the Olympics. Being on the shorter side aids her in disciples such as the vault.

So it shouldn’t surprise you that the Olympian’s first medal at the National Championships was a silver in the vault finals. However, what was astonishing about the 2010 silver medal-winning performance was that Black’s adversaries were senior gymnasts. Meanwhile, the Halifax resident was just 14. However, the momentum of her high-octane debut would come to a screeching halt.

Unfortunately, when nearly every skill involves flips and tumbles, a broken could turn debilitating. And that’s exactly what the standout rookie was from competing in 2011. However, Ellie Black bounced back under the tutelage of the Halifax Alta Gymnastics Club founder. The gymnast walked away with gold in the vault and bronze on the balance beam at the 2012 Elite Canada.

Black capitalized on the momentum, earning two golds at the 2012 Osijek Challenge in Croatia. With success in back-to-back tournaments, the gymnast sealed her spot in the Canadian gymnastics team headed to the 2012 London Olympics.

The many feathers in Ellie Black’s cap

The now-veteran gymnast made her Olympic debut at the London Summer Games and immediately proved her mettle. The pressure to perform at their debut Olympics can cripple even the most promising athletes. Despite holding every U18 age group record in the 400m sprint, 16-year-old U.S. track star Quincy Wilson nearly cost his team the chance to make it past the 4x400m relay heats at Paris 2024.

The Olympic debutant contributed to team Canada finishing fifth in team all-around, which to this day stands as the Canadian gymnastics team’s best finish at the Olympics. She also finished inside the top ten, taking eighth place in the vault finals. Black returned to the grandest stage in 2016, and while Team Canada could only manage 9th place in the team event, the gymnast’s performance stood out.

The then-two-time Olympian went on to place fifth in the individual all-around finals. While it wasn’t good enough to earn her an Olympic medal, Black became the first Canadian gymnast to do so, surpassing her coach David Kikuchi. However, Black came closest to earning a spot on the podium at Tokyo 2020.

Ellie Black finished fourth in the women’s balance beam finals with 13.866 on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, it was 0.134 points too far behind bronze medalist Simone Biles’s 14.000. Finally, at her fourth Olympics in Paris, Ellie Black led Team Canada to their first fifth-place finish since the 2012 Summer Olympics.

While an Olympic medal continued to elude the 29-year-old, she won the Paris 2024 Fair Play Award in August. The Canadian gymnastics icon defeated 20 candidates to earn the prestigious award. “We are thrilled to see Ellie Black receive this well-deserved recognition,” said International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) President, Dr. Jeno Kamuti.

And it’s this quality of upholding fair play, sportsmanship, and respect that’s also earned Ellie Black a guest spot at the Gold Over America Tour set to kick off on September 16. Besides her Olympic achievements, the champion gymnast became the first Canadian to earn silver at the Gymnastics World Championships.

With ten Pan American Games medals, the three-time Commonwealth gold medalist is also the most successful Canadian in the annual tournament’s history. Ellie Black turned 29 on September 8, and by the time LA 2028 rolls around, she’ll be 32. Does the Canadian gymnastics icon have a fifth Olympics in her? Only time will tell.