2024 Olympics: Canadian gymnasts Ellie Black, Shallon Olsen earn praise after consoling emotional French competitor

Mired in a heartbreaking defeat of their own, two Canadian gymnasts received recognition and praise following the women’s artistic all-around team final earlier during the Olympics.

The Canadian team — featuring Halifax's Ellie Black, Bowmanville's Ava Stewart, Toronto's Cassie Lee, Quebec City's Aurelie Tran and Vancouver's Shallon Olsen — finished just off the podium in fifth place, but it was a viral clip of an act of sportsmanship from an earlier event that had fans gushing over a pair of Canadaian Olympians.

In a video shared on Olympic broadcaster Ashleigh Wilmot's TikTok, Canadian teammates Black and Olsen are seen encouraging and consoling French gymnast Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos after her qualifying event earlier in the week did not go so well.

The French team failed to advance to the artistic all-around team final, finishing 11th in qualifying. The French side has never earned an Olympic medal in the women’s team event. Meanwhile, de Jesus dos Santos — the French gymnast being consoled in the viral clip — had a rough day in her own right, placing no higher than 33rd on any individual events.

"Today was not my day," de Jesus dos Santos said, via International Gymnast Media. "I feel really sad. I feel like everything I did the last two, three years, did not work out today. I’m very sad. I feel like I’ve worked for nothing the past years. I’m sad."

"I did not have any confidence today. I really tried to focus. I don’t know why, but today was not my day… I tried to do my job, I tried to do gymnastics, but I wasn’t here," she added.

Team USA, Italy, and Brazil took home the gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the team event in front of a packed house at Bercy Arena, with fans trying to catch a glimpse of superstar American Simone Biles in what could very well be her last Olympic Games.

Even amid the Simone Biles show, Black and Olsen got their flowers from across the sports world for their viral act of selflessness and sportsmanship.

After making it through the qualifiers, Black, Olsen and the rest of the Canada quintet battled their way to a fifth-place finish in the all-around team final in Paris — the same result that the team earned in London 2012.

"Twelve years was a long time to wait to get back into that team final," Black shared with CBC, "but I was really proud of the team to be able to do that. The team is my favourite so to go out there and have another opportunity with these girls on the competition floor was super awesome."

Both Black and Olsen will have another chance at a medal when the duo competes in the women's vault final on Saturday.