Ellie Black finds a fine balance

Just like a balance beam routine, Gymnast Ellie Black’s entire Olympic experience teetered on the edge of disaster. She managed to salvage an inspirational fourth place on the beam, despite a freshly re-injured ankle. Which really was a matter of snatching improbable triumph back from the brink of a much more likely painful retreat. Perhaps the least-surprised person in this Olympic drama is Black herself. The 25 year old Canadian Artistic Gymnastics team leader has always led by example, always rolled with the bad breaks, and always encouraged her teammates to see that setbacks are the proving ground for great competitors. Fuelled by very little sleep and even less breakfast, Ellie Black sat down with Anastasia to try and make some sense of the Tokyo experience. This conversation also flirted with disaster, as Black’s exhaustion ran up against a tide of excitement about heading home to Halifax. If we have learned one thing, watching this three time Olympian in action though: she always shows up on game day.