Ellie Black's act of sportsmanship at Paris 2024 won hearts: "One day doesn’t define you."
The four-time Olympic gymnast from Canada shares the story behind her heartfelt moment with Melanie de Jesus dos Santos at Paris 2024
Artistic Gymnastics
“To me, gymnastics and sport is more than just the end result. We are competitors and we want to compete,” four-time Olympic gymnast Ellie Black told Olympics.com earlier this year. “But you want to see everyone do their best and have a really great competition. You want to look back on your competition experience and be like, ‘Wow, I really enjoyed that. I made some great friends.’
“That’s what you want to look back and see that you had,” Black concluded, her words reflecting a philosophy shaped by over a decade of competing at the highest level.
At the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the 29-year-old Canadian lived those values as she comforted France’s Melanie de Jesus dos Santos after a difficult day in competition.
The emotional moment was a spontaneous display of humanity that captured the essence of her approach to sport.
The encounter happened in one of the media zones after the duo’s qualifying competition. Black, already well-versed in the emotional peaks and troughs of gymnastics, did not hesitate when she saw the French gymnast visibly upset.
“We were competing, and I didn’t get to see too much of what the other rotations were doing, but I did see a bit throughout the competition," Black recalled. "France… it was a really hard day for them. All of us have been through that. We go through the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. We know what that feels like, we know how hard that is.”
De Jesus dos Santos had arrived in Paris with lofty expectations, her confidence bolstered by helping France secure a historic team bronze medal at the World Championships the year before.
But multiple falls on the uneven bars from the French team, including de Jesus dos Santos, set the tone for a day. The home star fell again on balance beam and struggled on the floor exercise, ruling her out of any trips to the medal rounds.
So, when Black and her teammate Shallon Olsen crossed paths with de Jesus dos Santos, Black instinctively did the one thing she knew could help.
“I just wanted to give her a big hug,” Black said, her voice tinged with empathy. “Honestly, we’re all humans. We all go through that. We all know what she was going through to some extent. So, we wanted to be there as supporting friends.
"We just wanted to remind her that she is enough, and that everyone was there to see her - not for any specific results, but for what she has brought to the sport, what she continues to bring to the sport, and who she is as a person. They love her for that.”
Black’s words carried a powerful message.
“It was just reminding her that one day, one result, doesn’t define who she is or what she’s done in the sport,” she said.
The moment, captured on video, resonated far beyond the arena walls.
Fans around the world praised Black for her kindness, and in late August, she was awarded the Paris 2024 Fair Play Award - a fitting recognition for an athlete who embodies the spirit of sport.
Reflecting on the moment, Black expressed her hope that sport can continue to bring would be rivals together on a more human level.
“I think it was an incredible moment, and I think at the Olympics, we saw a lot of those top-level sportsmanship moments,” she said. “I think that’s something that sport has been missing.”