TOKYO, JPN (April 7, 2019) – The battle between Ellie Black of Halifax, NS and Morgan Hurd of the USA continued on Sunday at the 2019 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Tokyo, JPN as the two athletes, who shared the podium at the 2017 World Championships where Black took silver and Hurd gold, once again fought for the top of the podium. Despite Black laying down four solid routines, it was Hurd who once again took the gold and Black the silver. Asuko Teramoto of Japan took the bronze.
Black started off the competition with a stunning stuck vault to score a 14.500 putting her in second position behind Teramoto heading into the second rotation. On bars, she again had the second best score – a 13.533, but this time behind Hurd. On beam, it was Black’s turn to shine, putting down the top score on that apparatus – a 13.733. She was in the top spot heading into the final rotation on floor, and despite putting down yet another strong routine, a small step out of bounds on her second pass pushed her back into the silver medal position with a score of 13.266. Hurd took gold with a total score of 55.099. Black’s total score was 55.032, while Teramoto scored 54.799 overall.
“I was just looking to come out and show some of my best gymnastics and to have fun,” said Black who has spent the past week in Japan with the rest of the Canadian women’s team as part of a training camp. The team was in the stands cheering her on during the competition. “The highlight of the competition for me was being able to compete with the team in the audience and to have that Canadian support from the crowd, and I was pretty happy with my vault because I stuck it! It was a great competition – really fun, and a great experience.”
When asked about the past week’s training camp in the host city of Yokkaichi, Black was full of praise. “It’s been a great week in Japan. It’s been very beneficial for the girls to experience the travel, the long trip here, to try out the equipment, experience the culture, and the different kinds of food. To have a training camp away from home together as a team, especially in Japan with the Olympics in Tokyo next year, was definitely beneficial. We got to see the building of the gym in Mie (a prefecture of Japan) that they’re building for our preparation camp, and some of the girls got to see the building of the Olympic village, so it’s been a very inspiring trip and very special.”
Next up for the Canadian team will be the Canadian Championships taking place in Ottawa, ON from May 23-26 at Carleton University.
For full results, please visit: https://worldcup.jpn-gym.or.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019WC_Tokyo_WAG_AA_Result.pdf
ABOUT GYMNASTICS CANADA
First established in 1969, Gymnastics Canada has been supporting the mastery of movement in Canada for five decades as the national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in Canada. We work closely with the twelve provincial federations and 700 local clubs to provide a broad range of programs and services to meet the needs of all participants. From athlete development, to coach and judge education, Gymnastics Canada sets the operating standards and practices for the sport in Canada. Our mandate is to promote and provide positive and diverse gymnastics experiences through the delivery of quality and safe gymnastics programming. Visit
www.gymcan.org for more information, or follow us @gymcan1. From here, we soar.