Ellie Downie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ellie Downie MBE
Downie at the 2015 European Championships in Montpellier, France.
Personal information
Full name	Elissa Rebecca Downie
Country represented	Great Britain  England
Born	(1999-07-20) 20 July 1999 (age 25) Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
Hometown	Nottingham, United Kingdom
Height	157 cm (5 ft 2 in)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior international elite
Years on national team	2012–2023 (GBR)
Club	Notts Gymnastics Club
Head coach(es)	Jo Miller
Music	2014: "Señorita" by Bond 2015: "Why Don't You" by Gramophonedzie 2016: "Skeletons" by Drehz 2017: "Boneless" by Steve Aoki
Retired	23 January 2023
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Championships 0 0 2 European Championships 1 6 3 Representing  Great Britain World Championships Bronze 2015 Glasgow Team Bronze 2019 Stuttgart Vault European Championships Gold 2017 Cluj-Napoca All-Around Silver 2016 Bern Team Silver 2016 Bern Vault Silver 2016 Bern Floor Exercise Silver 2017 Cluj-Napoca Vault Silver 2017 Cluj-Napoca Floor Exercise Silver 2019 Szczecin All-Around Bronze 2015 Montpellier All-Around Bronze 2017 Cluj-Napoca Uneven Bars Bronze 2019 Szczecin Vault Youth Olympic Games Silver 2014 Nanjing Vault Bronze 2014 Nanjing All-Around Bronze 2014 Nanjing Balance Beam Bronze 2014 Nanjing Floor Exercise FIG World Cup Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Challenge Cup 4 0 0

Elissa Rebecca "Ellie" Downie (born 20 July 1999) is a retired artistic gymnast from Great Britain. She is famous for being the 2017 European gymnastics champion in the all-around competition. This made her the first gymnast from Great Britain to win such a big all-around title.

Ellie is the younger sister of Becky Downie, who is also a very successful gymnast. Ellie first became well-known as a junior gymnast at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. There, she won four medals. When she was 15, she made history again. She became the first British woman to win an individual all-around medal at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships, earning a bronze medal in 2015. Later that year, she helped her team win Britain's first global team medal, a bronze, at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. At the 2017 European Championships, she became the first British gymnast to win the all-around title at a major international event.

Ellie Downie announced that she was retiring from gymnastics on 23 January 2023.

Junior Career Highlights

Ellie Downie showed great talent early in her career.

• In 2014, she competed at the European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
• She won a gold medal on vault, a silver medal with the British team, and a bronze medal in the all-around competition.
• Because of her strong performance, she was chosen to compete at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.
• At the Youth Olympics, she won four medals: a silver on vault, and bronze medals in the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise.

Senior Career Achievements

2015: Senior Debut

Ellie Downie started her senior career in 2015.

• She competed at the British Championships, winning silver medals on vault and uneven bars.
• She also won a bronze medal in the all-around competition.
• She was chosen for the British team for the 2015 European Championships with her sister, Becky Downie.
• At the European Championships, she qualified for the all-around, vault, and uneven bars finals.
• On April 17, she won a bronze medal in the all-around final. This was the first time a British female gymnast won an individual all-around medal at the European Championships.
• She was named the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in December 2015.

2016: Multiple Medals

In May 2016, Ellie Downie achieved something amazing at the FIG World Cup event in Osijek, Croatia.

• She won all four individual event titles: vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise.
• She was the first gymnast to do this at a World Cup event since 1975.
• The next month, at the 2016 European Championships in Bern, Switzerland, she won three silver medals. These were for the team competition, vault, and floor exercise.
• In July, she was selected for the British team to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Olympic Games Experience

At the Olympics, Ellie Downie had a challenging moment during her floor routine.

• She landed on her head but bravely returned to compete on vault.
• She qualified for the all-around final and finished 13th.
• The British women's team finished fifth in the team competition.

2017: European Champion

In April 2017, Ellie Downie competed at the European Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

• 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.
• She also won silver medals on vault and floor exercise, and a bronze medal on the uneven bars.
• Later that year, she had ankle surgery, which meant she could not compete at the 2017 World Championships.

2018: Return to Competition

Ellie Downie had planned to compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

• However, her ankle injury continued to bother her, so she didn't compete for most of the year.
• In September, she was named to the team for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
• The team finished ninth in qualifications.
• Individually, Ellie qualified for the all-around final and finished 11th.

2019: World Championships Medal

Ellie Downie had a very successful year in 2019.

• She competed at the British Championships, winning first place in the all-around, vault, and floor exercise.
• At the European Championships, she won a silver medal in the all-around.
• She also won a bronze medal in the vault final.
• In September, she was part of the team for the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart.
• Her team placed seventh, which meant Great Britain qualified a team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
• Individually, Ellie qualified for the vault final.
• She won a bronze medal in the vault final, which was her first individual medal at the World Championships.
• Her sister, Becky, also won her first individual World Championships medal that day.

2020-2021: Challenges and Retirement

Ellie Downie was selected to compete at the Birmingham World Cup in early 2020.

• However, this event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In May 2021, British Gymnastics announced that Ellie would take time away from gymnastics. This was due to a difficult family time, which meant she could not try out for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
• On 23 January 2023, Ellie Downie officially announced her retirement from the sport.

Personal Life

Ellie Downie is the sister of Becky Downie, who competed in the Olympics in 2008 and 2016. Ellie attended the Rushcliffe School in Nottingham until 2015.

Honours and Awards

In April 2022, Ellie and her sister Becky received special honorary degrees in sport from Nottingham Trent University.

Ellie and Becky Downie were both given the title of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). This award was for their great contributions to gymnastics. They received this honour together from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle in March 2024.

Competitive History

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
Junior
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
Senior
2015	English Championships				9		6
	British Championships					6
	European Championships			5	4
	GBR-NED International Friendly
	World Championships			4			6
2016	British Championships					4	4
	Osijek Challenge Cup
	European Championships
	Olympic Games	5	13
2017	British Championships					WD	WD
	European Championships					4
2018
	World Championships	R1	11
2019	British Championships					7
	Birmingham World Cup		7
	European Championships
	World Championships	6

See also

In Spanish: Ellie Downie para niños