Halifax gymnast Ellie Black says postponing Olympics 'the right decision'

Halifax gymnast Ellie Black had a strong feeling the 2020 summer Olympics were going to be postponed due to the COVID-19 virus, and she was right.

The decision to move the games back a year to 2021 was announced Tuesday afternoon.

"I think it's a bit of peace of mind in knowing that it was the right decision," said Black. "It was the right decision for the health and the safety of everyone going through what we are right now."

The International Olympic Committee said the Tokyo Games "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020, but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community."

The postponement of the Olympics comes as Black recovers from ankle surgery. Although her recovery is going as planned, the Olympic postponement could have an extra benefit.

"This might be able to give me a little more time to take the rest and not have to rush it so fast," said Black.

She said she supported the decision by the Canadian Olympic Committee to withhold its team fromthe Olympics had the event proceeded this summer.

"This is something that we as athletes have been working toward for a very long time," said Black. "But what we are going through with the virus as a community, as a country, the world as a whole, that is something that is much bigger than the Olympics."

Black has already competed in two Olympic games:London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Black, 24, won five medals at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru when she became the first woman in the event's history to win back-to-back gold medals in the individual all-around competition.

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