Gymnastics Canada  – TAIPEI CITY, TPE (August 22, 2017) – Ellie Black of Halifax, NS followed up her silver medal performance in Monday’s team event, winning a bronze medal in the women’s all-around final at the Summer Universiade (FISU) Games in Taipei City, TPE on Tuesday.
 
Black’s overall score of 54.950 points was enough to secure the bronze medal and round out the podium. Black started off the final with a phenomenal vault routine scoring 14.500 points and putting her atop the leaderboard, before struggling in her bars routine. Black didn’t let the bars routine faze her and rebounded with a 14.000 point performance on beam before wrapping up the final with 13.550 points on floor.
 
“Every opportunity on the competition floor is a good one and we finished strong for Canada,” said Black. “I really enjoyed competing today with Briannah and tomorrow I’m looking to go out with Brittany and have some strong performances and continue to work on the consistency of my routines.”
 
Burnaby, BC’s Briannah Tsang also competed in the all-around final finishing 11th overall with 51.000 points. Tsang’s best performance also came on the vault, where she scored 14.000 points. “Today was super fun competing in the all-around finals,” said Tsang. “Going from college level routines to FIG level was a challenge but it opened up this great opportunity for me, and for that I’m grateful. I’m also so proud of Ellie and how well she did today, and I cannot wait to watch her in event finals tomorrow.”
 
Women’s coach David Kikuchi was proud of both Black and Tsang’s performances in the final: “Ellie and Briannah did a great job out there, and really enjoyed the experience,” he said. “We’ve got one more day and the girls are looking to have their best performances.”
 
In the men’s all-around final, René Cournoyer of Repentigny, QC represented Canada well, finishing in 11th place overall with 80.850 points. Cournoyer had a rocky start, falling off the pommel horse at the end of his first routine, but from there, he performed like a season veteran, moving up the rankings from 17th to 11th place.
 
Cournoyer’s best results came on the vault and rings where he scored 14.350 and 14.050 points respectively.
 
“I was very proud of him today; he kept his composure and did some great gymnastics,” said Tony Smith, national team director for men’s artistic gymnastics at Gymnastics Canada. “Overall, the performance of the Canadian men’s team here at the FISU Games was a significant step upwards from where we left off in 2016. This group of young men are hungry for success and have demonstrated their commitment to our program and our goal of Olympic qualification. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but the nucleus of this team is already being formed. Our 8th place finish here is just the beginning of some excellent team results these boys will put together over the next couple of years.”
 
Black will be joined by teammate and fellow Olympian Brittany Rogers of Calgary, AB on Wednesday for the apparatus finals. Rogers will compete in the vault and beam final, while Black will compete in all four finals.
 
Full results can be found here.
 
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