Canadian gymnast Ellie Black recovering from ankle surgery
Halifax native tore multiple ligaments at world gymnastics championships in October
Canadian gymnast Ellie Black says she is recovering from ankle surgery after injuring herself at the world gymnastics championships in October.
The 24-year-old from Halifax, N.S., took to Instagram to share details about both her injury and her recovery. The injury happened in the all-around final during her last event on the vault.
"I did my vault and I landed a bit short, and then I just felt a weird pain and kind of pressure up the side of my ankle," Black said. "I was concerned about it, nervous. It just didn't really feel right."
X-rays and an ultrasound showed no signs of a fracture, but an MRI the next day revealed she suffered torn ligaments.
WATCH | Ellie Black limps away after injury:
"I tore the ATFL [anterior talofibular ligament] and then the syndesmosis ligament, which I had no clue what that was, but it holds the fibula and tibia together," Black said. "It's pretty hard to tear I think, so that was interesting."
Black said after consulting with doctors, she had the surgery just over a week ago.
"Last week it was really tough because it was really painful and I couldn't move," Black said. "I was just laying in bed for a couple days, which is really hard for me. I'm not the kind of person who likes to sit around. I like to be busy; I like to move. "
Black said she is feeling a lot better as the recovery process gets underway. Black is part of the Canadian women's artistic gymnastics team that qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"I'm feeling more of myself right now," Black said. "I was allowed to go back into the gym this week and just kind of stretch, do a little bit of conditioning, but nothing with my ankle just yet because we're trying to rest it still."
Black will return to see her surgeon on Monday and get the stitches taken out. She said she hopes to get more information on how her recovery will go.
Black finished fourth in the individual all-around competition at the recent world gymnastics championships, and in 2017 she became the very first Canadian to win a medal in the individual all-around.
But perhaps her most notable accomplishment came this past summer when Black won five medals at the Pan American Games, as she became the first woman in the multi-sport event's history to win back-to-back gold medals in the individual all-around. She also became the most decorated Canadian gymnast ever at the event.
Black previously represented Canada at the 2016 Olympic Games, but she will aim to win her first Olympic medal in Tokyo next summer.