From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A mixture of pride and disappointment enveloped Ellie Black after the Canadian gymnast finished fourth in the beam Tuesday at the Olympic Games.
Hampered by a sprained left ankle that knocked her out of the all-around, Black competed in a marquee beam final featuring American star Simone Biles, who took the bronze medal ahead of the Canadian.
China won gold and silver with 16-year-old Guan Chenchen scoring 14.633 and Tang Xijing posting 14.233.
Biles tallied an even 14 ahead of Black's 13.866.
Black was just short of winning Canada's first Olympic medal in women's artistic gymnastics.
Her ankle not up to the degree of difficulty she'd built into her beam routine, the 25-year-old from Halifax was nevertheless still in podium contention executing a modified version with a wrapped ankle.
She completed difficult elements with a few wobbles, but stuck her landing. She then hugged her coach David Kikuchi and wept.
"Obviously coming fourth is hard, but to be able to compete and take part in the final and hit my beam routine, I'm very, very happy with that," Black said later with emotion still shaking her voice at times.
"Not the beam routine I was expecting to compete, but still being able to take part and enjoy that opportunity and represent Canada as best as I possibly could under the circumstances, I was just really proud of myself."
Kyle Shewfelt was the first Canadian to win a medal of any colour in artistic gymnastics when he claimed men's floor exercise gold in 2004.
Black sprained her ankle in June and aggravated it dismounting from the beam in training a week before Tuesday's final.
She pulled out of the all-around and spent anxious days in physiotherapy, wondering if her Olympic Games were over. Black was conservative in warmup Tuesday, attempting no aerial elements.
After a couple back handsprings on the floor, Black stood at the edge of the mat and started at the apparatus while visualizing her routine.
Black's drama ran somewhat parallel to that of Biles, a triple gold medallist who withdrew during last week's team final when she was suddenly unable to orient herself in the air.
The American didn't attempt to defend her all-around title, nor did she compete in uneven bars, floor exercise and vault finals. Biles was cleared to compete in beam.
"My problem was why my body and my mind weren't in sync and that's what I couldn't wrap my head around," Biles said. "Where did the wires not connect?
"That was really hard. It was something that was so out of my control. The outcome that I had at the end of the day, my mental and physical health is better than any medal."
Similar to Black, Biles performed a modified her beam routine good enough for her career seventh Olympic medal.
"She's been through so much," Black said. "It's important that she prioritize what she needs.
"I'm happy she had another chance on the floor kind of like me. Another opportunity to go out and show what we practice so hard to do even though it wasn't exactly what we planned."
Black was a silver medallist in the all-around at the 2017 world championships in Montreal after finishing fifth in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
She tore ligaments in her right ankle at the 2019 world championship.
The COVID-19 pandemic pushing the Tokyo Games from 2020 to 2021 afforded Black more training time, but misfortune didn't allow her to fully express it in Tokyo.
"Training five years for this Olympics and for it to not go the way I wanted, it's heartbreaking in a sense because I didn't get to compete in the all-around final," Black said.
"I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked to have been for the beam final, but that being said, there's been so many great things over the past five years. Ending it like this is still a great thing for me. Fourth in the world is something very respectable."
With the 2024 Paris Games three years away instead of the usual quadrennial, Black isn't ruling out a fourth Olympic Games for her.
"I'm not ready to be done with gymnastics yet," she said. "I still have goals that I want."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2021.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Careful attention to government statements and legislation is required to get a handle on the level of risk British Columbians’ information is under, as investigators probe multiple breaches under a continued barrage of attacks.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.
Hailey and Justin Bieber are going to be parents. The couple announced the news on Thursday on Instagram, both sharing a video that showcases Hailey Bieber's growing belly.
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
The Oscar-winning team behind the nearly US$6 billion blockbuster 'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' trilogies is reuniting to produce two new films.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.