Ellie Black of Halifax, Nova Scotia is Canada’s most successful gymnast in the history of the Pan American Games.On Tuesday, Black won her record ninth Pan American Games medal, breaking the record set by Willie Weiler of London, Ontario, who won eight medals for Canada at the Pan American Games. Interestingly, all eight medals came at the 1963 Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Black won the gold medal on Tuesday in the women’s vault. Black had a winning score of 14.45 points. Yesenia Ferrera of Cuba won the silver medal with a score of 14.391 points. Shallon Olsen of Vancouver, British Columbia won the bronze medal with a score of 14.183 points. Black reached the podium by .601 points over Ana Irene Palacios of Guatemala, who was in fourth place with a score of 13.849 points.
Even though it has been a solid international competition for Team Canada in women’s gymnastics, one must realize that the United States did not send their best gymnasts to the Pan American Games. Simone Biles and Grace McCallum are preparing for the 2019 United States Championships in Kansas City and the 2019 World Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
Canada won two other gold medals in events with Olympic status on Tuesday. Dominik Crete of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec won the gold medal in the men’s 200 metre kayaking and Andreanne Langlois of Quebec City, Quebec and Alanna Bray-Lougheed of Oakville, Ontario won the gold medal in the women’s K2 500 metres.
In the men’s 200 metre kayaking, Crete won the gold medal with a time of 35.456 seconds. Cesar De Cesare of Ecuador won the silver medal with a time of 35.906 seconds. Ruben Rezola of Argentina won the bronze medal with a time of 35.996 seconds. Crete reached the podium by 1.49 seconds over Edson Silva of Brazil, who was in fourth place with a time of 36.946 seconds.
In the women’s K2 500 metres, Langlois and Bray-Lougheed had a winning time of 1:45.484. Maria Garro and Brenda Rojas of Argentina won the silver medal with a time of 1:46.932. Beatriz Briones and Karina Alanis of Mexico won the bronze medal with a time of 1:47.472. Langlois and Bray-Lougheed reached the podium by 7.575 seconds as Samantha Barlow and Kaitlyn McElroy of the United States were in fourth place with a time of 1:53.059.
Canada is currently in third place in the medal standings with 43 medals. The United States has 66 medals and Mexico has 44 medals.
