To no one’s surprise, Halifax’s Ellie Black has been named to the Canadian team that will compete at next month’s world artistic gymnastics championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
The 23-year-old Black, fresh off a five-medal performance at the Pan American Games in Peru last month, will be joined on the Canadian women’s team by Brooklyn Moors (Cambridge, Ont.), Ana Padurariu (Whitby, Ont.), Shallon Olsen (Surrey, B.C.) and Victoria Woo (Brossard, Que.) for the 10-day international event.
Black’s coach David Kikuchi of Fall River is a 2020 Olympic team lead. Bedford’s Martha Purdy is the team therapist.
Black became the first female gymnast to win back-to-back Pan Am titles and was selected as Canada’s flag bearer for the closing ceremonies of the Pan Am Games in Lima. She won two golds in vault and all-around, earned two silvers in the beam and team competition and a bronze in uneven bars.
The world championships, which will take place Oct. 4-13, are the last opportunity for countries to qualify a four-person team for the 2020 Olympic Games.
The top three teams from the 2018 world championships have already qualified for the Tokyo Games. The United States, China and Belgium women’s teams punched their Olympic tickets. Canada was fourth last year.
The teams finishing in the top 12 next month in Stuttgart, and not previously qualified, will earn an Olympic spot.
“These world championships are going to be really exciting for our men’s and women’s artistic teams as they look to qualify for Tokyo,” Gymnastics Canada CEO Ian Moss said in a news release. “With podium performances for both at the recent Pan Am Games in Lima, we know that we belong amongst the top nations in the world, and are confident that are athletes, coaches, and staff will work well together to achieve their Olympic qualification objectives.”
Black and her Canadian women’s teammates will travel to France for a training camp on Sept. 25 before heading to Stuttgart on Sept. 28. The Canadian men will travel to Portugal for a pre-worlds training camp on Sept. 23.
