Team Canada matches best ever Olympic result in women’s team artistic gymnastics

Canada’s women’s artistic gymnastics team has matched its best ever Olympic result in the women’s team event.

Ellie Black, Cassie Lee, Shallon Olsen, Ava Stewart, and Aurélie Tran took fifth place in the women’s team final on Day 4 of Paris 2024.

That previous fifth place finish came at London 2012 when Black made her Olympic debut as a 16-year-old. Now a four-time Olympian, Black couldn’t have been prouder of the performance this squad put in.

“We’re really excited,” said Black after the event. “You know, it was a really great atmosphere out there and yeah, I think we did a phenomenal job and to come fifth… our team score was great, tied our best ever in team finals like last time. It’s a pretty awesome day.”

In the final, only three gymnasts per team compete on each of the four apparatus and all three scores count towards the final result. So, there is no room for error.

The first apparatus for the Canadians was balance beam, which is a tough apparatus to open on, especially given that they had multiple falls in the qualification round two days earlier. But Black, Stewart, and Lee were all very strong, each scoring more than 13.000 points. Black led the way with 14.300.

They next went to floor exercise. With a routine that has garnered praise around the world, Black again topped the team with a score of 13.633. Tran also got more than 13.000 points.

Their third rotation took them to the vault, on which Black and Olsen are both qualified for the individual apparatus final. The both went over 14.000 points with their well executed vaults.

“Yeah, we’ve got a really strong vault team,” said Black. “Shall and I are super excited for vault finals. It’s a solid event for us. It’s nice to go and just feel, you know, we’ve got some solid performances coming there.”

Heading into their fourth and final rotation, Canada sat in fourth place, 1.532 points back of Great Britain for the last spot on the podium. But it was really tight among teams 4-5-6 with Canada, China, and Brazil all within half a point of each other.

The Canadians finished up on the uneven bars. Stewart was up first and delivered a solid routine worth 13.500 points. Black had some troubles executing her routine as planned, scoring below what she had achieved in the qualification round. Tran closed them out strongly with her own 13.500 routine.

Brazil, meanwhile, finished up on vault — one of their best apparatus — and leapt up the standings, concluding the event with a total score of 164.497. Italy had been clean the entire event to get the silver, finishing with a score of 165.494. As expected, the United States, led by superstar Simone Biles, won gold with a score of 171.296.

Canada finished with a total score of 162.432.

Like Biles, Black is often asked if these will be her final Olympic Games. The 28-year-old said she continues to take things day-by-day. Right now, she’s focused on resting up for her remaining individual events in Paris, which also includes the all-around final.

“As long as my body is feeling good, I’ve still got goals I want to achieve and if I can help the team, then, you know, I’ll probably stay around and do some more gymnastics for a while. The main goal is the present right now and then we’ll reevaluate after a hard earned rest after the Games.”