Ellie Black wins two more gold medals at World Cup meet in Slovenia
Ellie Black wins two more gold medals at World Cup meet in Slovenia
April 28, 2013 , LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Ever since she burst on the international scene a year ago with double gold medals at her first World Cup meet, Halifax gymnast Ellie Black (Alta) has been on a roll.
Black, who played a key role in helping the Canadian women’s team notch a best-ever finish at the London Olympics last summer, won three of four events at a World Cup meet on the weekend, adding double gold in the floor and beam finals on Sunday to Saturday’s victory on vault.
“It feels incredible,” said Black, who has now won a total of six medals at three consecutive World Cup meets.
“I came here to get more experience and try out some new skills and it turned into a really great trip for me.”
Black dominated the field in the balance beam final with a score of 14.250 points, well ahead of runner up Noemi Makra of Hungary with a score of 13.975.
“I’ve never really hit my beam routine exactly the way I want to in competition and it was great to go out in the final and do it the way I planned,” said Black, whose two best events in the past have been floor and vault.
Teammate Victoria-Kayen Woo of La Prairie, Que., (Gym Richelieu) placed 6th on beam.
Black’s floor routine, although she tied for first, had a few rough spots owing to a more bouncy floor than she is used to competing on.
“On the second line I bounced backward a bit and on the last line I stepped out of bounds, but overall I was really happy to put the triple twist back into my first line which I haven’t done since the Olympics.”
Black shared first place with Hungary’s Makra, both scoring 13.250 points and Ana Filipa Martins of Portugal was a close third at 13.200.
In the men’s vault final Mathieu Mathieu Csukassy of Montreal (IMCO), placed eighth.