Ellie Black wins all around bronze at Tokyo World Cup
Ellie Black wins all around bronze at Tokyo World Cup
Posted Sunday, April 7, 2013TOKYO -- In her first all around World Cup gymnastics meet, 2012 Olympian Ellie Black of Halifax (Alta) was more than up to the challenge, winning the bronze medal with a strong showing on Sunday in the final two of four events.
Black, third after vault and beam on Saturday, maintained her overall ranking after placing fourth on floor and third on beam on Sunday for a total score of 55.900 points.
Asuka Teramoto of Japan took the gold with 56.825 points, overtaking first-day leader Peyton Ernst of the U.S. who settled for silver with a score of 56.550.
Black, who played a key role helping the Canadian women’s team achieve a best-ever fifth place finish at the 2012 Olympics, won her first World Cup medals less than a year ago at an individual-event meet in Croatia.
“It was different this time because it was an all around event, so I was very excited to see what it was all about,” said Black.
“Vault is my favourite event and it went really well but I was also very pleased with my uneven bars performance because it’s been a difficult event for me,” added Black. “I’ve been working really hard to bring up the level and I think I did a pretty good job.”
Canadian coach David Kikuchi said Black’s performance exceeded expectations.
“Next to the Olympics this was the biggest competition ever for Ellie and she did a great job,” said Kikuchi, a two-time Olympian with the Canadian men’s team who guides Black at the Alta Gymnastics Club in Halifax.
“This year everything is leading up to the world championships in October so we’re building towards that.”
The competition was the final all-around World Cup of the 2012-2013 season. The all-around champions each received 15,000 Swiss francs (approximately USD$16,000), with the runners-up taking 12,000 and third place 8,000, down to 1,000 for eighth place.
