Elissa Rebecca "Ellie" Downie (born 20 July 1999) is a retired artistic gymnast who has represented Great Britain. She is the all-around 2017 European gymnastics champion, the first gymnast to win a major all-around title for Great Britain.
The younger sister of triple European champion Becky Downie, Downie first came to prominence as an outstanding junior gymnast at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, winning four medals. At the age of 15, she became the first British woman to win an individual all-around medal at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships, with a bronze in 2015. Later that year, she was part of the team that won Britain's first global team medal, a bronze, at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. At the 2017 European Championships, she made history again by becoming the first British gymnast to win the all-around at a major international competition.
On 23 January 2023, Downie announced her retirement from the sport.
Junior career Downie competed at the 2014 European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, and won a gold medal on vault, a silver medal with the British team and a bronze medal in the all-around. Based on this performance, she was selected to compete at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China. There, she earned four medals: a silver on vault behind Wang Yan and bronzes in the all-around, balance beam and floor exercise.
Senior career
2015 Downie made her senior debut at the 2015 British Championships. She won silver on vault and uneven bars and bronze in the all-around competition, and was named to the British team for the 2015 European Championships along with her sister, Becky Downie.
She performed well in qualifications at the European Championships, qualifying for the individual all-around, vault and uneven bars finals. On 17 April, she competed in the all-around final and placed third, behind Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland and Maria Kharenkova of Russia, with a score of 56.623, winning the first ever individual all-around medal for a British female gymnast at the European Championships.
Downie was the Sky Sports Sportswoman of the Month for April 2015. On 20 December, she was named the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
2016 In May 2016, Downie won all four individual event titles at the FIG World Cup event in Osijek, Croatia, becoming the first gymnast to accomplish this feat at a World Cup competition since Ludmilla Tourischeva in 1975. The following month, at the 2016 European Championships in Bern, Switzerland, she won silver medals with the team and on vault and floor exercise.
In July, she was named to the British team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, along with Becky Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Ruby Harrold and Amy Tinkler.
Olympic Games In qualifications at the Olympics, Downie landed on her head during a tumbling pass on floor and was unable to finish her routine. However, she returned in the next rotation, performing two vaults, and qualified to the all-around final in 20th place. She improved on that performance in the final, finishing 13th, and the British women finished fifth in the team competition.
2017 In April Downie represented Great Britain at the European Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where she made history by qualifying for all five individual finals. The next day, she became the first British gymnast to win the all-around title at a major international competition, beating Hungary's Zsófia Kovács and France's Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos. She also won silver medals on vault and floor exercise, and won the bronze medal on the uneven bars. At the beginning of August she underwent surgery on her ankle due to an injury she had dealt with at both the British Championships and European Championships that year. Due to the surgery Downie was unable to compete at the 2017 World Championships.
2018 While Downie had intended to compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, her ankle was still causing her issues despite the surgery she had undergone previously and she did not compete for a majority of the year.
On 27 September Downie was named to the team to compete at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar alongside Becky Downie, Alice Kinsella, Georgia-Mae Fenton, and Kelly Simm. The team finished ninth in qualifications and did not advance to the team final. Individually Downie qualified to the all-around final where she finished 11th.
2019 Downie was selected to compete at the 2019 European Championships alongside Amelie Morgan, Alice Kinsella, and Kelly Simm. She competed at the British Championships where she placed first in the all-around, on vault, and on floor exercise. She later competed at the Birmingham World Cup where she placed seventh after falling off the balance beam and uneven bars. At the European Championships Downie qualified to the all-around final in fourth place and to the vault final in first. In the all-around final Downie finished second behind Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos of France. She won bronze in the vault final behind 2015 vault champion Maria Paseka and 2017 vault champion Coline Devillard.
In September Downie was named to the team to compete at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart alongside Alice Kinsella, Becky Downie, Taeja James, and Georgia-Mae Fenton. During qualifications Downie helped Great Britain place seventh, earning a spot in the team final and qualifying a team for Great Britain to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Individually Downie qualified for the vault final. During the team final she contributed scores on vault and uneven bars towards Great Britain's sixth-place finish. In the vault final Downie performed a Double-Twisting Yurchenko and a Cheng, earning an average score of 14.816 and winning the bronze medal behind Americans Simone Biles and Jade Carey. This was Downie's first individual World Championships medal. Later that day Downie's sister Becky won her first individual World Championships medal, a silver medal on the uneven bars.
2020 In early February it was announced that Downie was selected to represent Great Britain at the Birmingham World Cup taking place in late March. However the Birmingham World Cup was later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
2021 In May, British Gymnastics announced that Downie would be taking some time away from gymnastics to be with her family following the sudden death of her 24-year-old brother Joshua on the eve of the final Olympic trial, thus ending her Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid.
Controversy In 2021, both of the Downie sisters spoke out concerning the pressures placed onto competitors, including over-training when injured and weight-shaming.Becky and Ellie Downie say abuse in GB gymnastics 'completely normalised' The Guardian, 9 July 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2023GB Gymnastics accused of ‘sinister warning’ after dropping Downie for Olympics The Guardian, 7 June 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2023Becky Downie's exclusion from Tokyo 2020 is more than just a story about an athlete not quite making the Olympic team ITV News, 7 June 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2023 In 2023 interviews, Downie stated she had quit to focus on her "mental health and happiness", and also to coach junior athletes.Gymnast Ellie Downie retires to prioritise 'mental health and happiness' ITV News, 23 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023
Personal life Downie is the sister of 3-time Olympian Becky Downie. She attended the Rushcliffe School in Nottingham until the summer of 2015.
Honours In April 2022, she and sister Becky received honorary degrees in sport from Nottingham Trent University.
Ellie and Becky Downie were both appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to gymnasts and the sport of gymnastics, which they received together from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle in early March.Gymnasts Becky and Ellie Downie honoured with MBEs at Windsor Castle BBC Sport, 7 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024
Competitive history +Competitive history of Ellie Downie at the junior levelYearEvent 2012 British Team Championships 4 6 4 15 5 British Espoir Championships 18 UK School Games 2013 WOGA Classic Junior British Championships British Team Championships 4 European Youth Olympic Festival 4 7 Élite Gym Massilia 12 4 Gymnasiade 6 4 6 2014 English Championships 4 7 Munich Friendly 4 European Championships 5 Youth Olympic Games
+Competitive history of Ellie Downie at the senior levelYearEvent 2015English Championships 9 6 British Championships 6 European Championships 5 4 GBR-NED International Friendly World Championships 4 6 2016British Championships 4 4 Osijek Challenge Cup European Championships Olympic Games 5 13 2017 British Championships WD WD European Championships 4 2018 World Championships 11 2019 British Championships 7 Birmingham World Cup 7 European Championships World Championships 6
Floor music +YearMusic Title 2014 "Señorita" by Bond 2015 "Why Don't You" by Gramophonedzie 2016 "Skeletons" by Drehz 2017 "Boneless" by Steve Aoki
Notes
References
External links Official website